A group of researchers and economists who drafted the report about cryptocurrency at the request of the Committee on economic and monetary Affairs (ECON) of the European Parliament, acknowledged the ban on digital currencies is inappropriate.
Experts of the Center for social and economic research (CASE) came to the conclusion that virtual currencies are “a modern form of personal funds”. Pointing out the shortcomings of previous private funds, they stressed that due to its technological features, digital currency like bitcoin, “is relatively well protected, transparently and quickly moves”. However, the text of the report also stresses that the anonymity of their owners and the lack of geographic location posed a challenge for financial supervisors.
“Unlike their predecessors from the 18th or 19th centuries, the digital currency used around the world, ignoring borders,” the report says.
The authors believe that it is apolitical and decentralized nature of virtual currencies will provide them with a long presence in the market. Moreover, the researchers urge economists not to underestimate the tremendous potential of such assets:
“Economists who are trying to ignore the conclusions in favor of cryptocurrencies and their significance, seeing their creators, eccentrics and charlatans, but in themselves — another monetary utopia or delusion, Scam, or simply a convenient tool for money laundering, profoundly mistaken”.
According to scientists, the authorities should neither ignore nor to prohibit cryptocurrencies. They believe both approaches are wrong, insisting that the cryptocurrency should be regulated in the same way as any other financial instrument.
The researchers point to the fact that, due to the borderless nature of cryptocurrencies, any attempt to ban them will inevitably end in failure. Instead, they propose to introduce a tax on the income in the virtual assets and provide relevant legal field in different countries to a common view (a similar proposal was considered at the last G20 summit in April).
Part of the report devoted to the question of whether cryptocurrency a threat to the monopoly of Central banks to issue currency. The authors argue that the answer is likely negative.
Referring to the gap in indicators of capitalization and use of digital assets and national currencies, experts expect that in the near future, the dominant position of Central banks and the most popular currencies will not change.
However, the report contains only positive examples of the implementation of cryptocurrencies in the economy of countries with low political and economic stability; as a specific case study the authors cite Venezuela, which became a “safe haven” for bitcoins.
“We cannot completely exclude the possibility that future progress in the field of information technology will ensure the emergence of more transparent, secure and easy to use digital currencies. This can increase their competitiveness compared to national currencies, especially with the most popular.”
Unknown influence whether the findings of researchers another CASE study. Recall that last week, ING Group, conducted a survey which showed that the interest of ordinary citizens to cryptocurrencies can grow at least twice.
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