



The gambling and money laundering that is probably behind the buying and selling of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will sooner or later lead to the intervention of the regulatory authority, estimates the governor of the Swedish bank Riksbank Stefan Ingves.
According to Ingves in Bloomberg, “The authorities have begun to react to the frenzy that has erupted around cryptocurrencies. When something grows big enough, then situations like consumer interests and money laundering come into play. That is why we believe that regulatory oversight will come soon. ”
However, while there is strong scepticism about both Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies following their impressive market trajectory, some of Wall Street’s largest financial institutions, such as Goldman Sachs, already offer cryptocurrency-related trading services.
The governor of the Swedish Central Bank, however, stressed that the possibility of intervention of the authorities will happen “at different times for different sectors”.
Sweden’s finance minister, Asa Lindhagen, said the government had already begun the process of tightening standards for cryptocurrency exchanges, saying similar processes had begun and were under way internationally. “Addressing the risk of money laundering involving cryptocurrencies is a very important issue that requires cross-border co-operation,” she said.
The question, however, is how to regulate a product designed to evade control by national authorities, even though governments are already trying to move in that direction, with China putting pressure on cryptocurrency supporters. The People’s Bank of China has already announced that its banks will not be allowed to accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment, a move that came after an attempt to “suppress” cryptocurrency mining.
Sweden is one of the most advanced countries in the development of a digital currency, as in the country cash is on the verge of extinction with cards overcharged. The country’s Central Bank is trying to ensure that cryptocurrencies will not come to fill the gap. Ingves has previously estimated that Sweden could have its own digital currency through its central bank in the next five years.
U.S. regulators, in cooperation with the Fed, are already investigating the possibility of controlling the cryptocurrency market, Randal Quarles, the Fed’s vice president of oversight, said in May. Federal agencies need time to find the right regulatory approach before setting up a regulatory framework.