IMF Financial News

Pakistan will ban cryptocurrency services operating in the country and never legalize crypto trading, Minister of State for Finance Aisha Ghaus Pasha said at a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on May 16, according to multiple local media reports. Other officials, including State Bank of Pakistan director Sohail Jawad, spoke in favor of the decision. 

The show Macro Markets, hosted by crypto analyst Marcel Pechman, which airs every Friday on the Cointelegraph Markets & Research YouTube channel, explains complex concepts in layman’s terms and focuses on the cause and effect of traditional financial events on the day-to-day crypto activity.

With interest in central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) at an “unprecedented” level, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is experiencing heavy demand for guidance in regard to them. In response, the IMF planned to release a CBDC handbook, deputy managing director Bo Li said in a recent speech.

The International Monetary Fund, or IMF, has pointed to the collapse of FTX as well as “turmoil” in the banking sector in its calls for regulation of digital assets.

China and Malaysia are considering moving forward on discussions regarding an Asian Monetary Fund as distancing from U.S. dollar hegemony becomes a greater priority in the region.

A central bank digital currency (CBDC) can impact monetary policy by increasing money velocity, disintermediation, volatility of bank reserves, currency substitution and altered capital flows, even when it is not designed to do so, according to a study published by the International Monetary Fund. The unintended impact of a CBDC may be felt particularly acute in the Islamic banking system.

This week on The Market Report, the resident experts at Cointelegraph discuss all the details regarding Silvergate and its impact on the crypto market so far.

There’s been little sunlight this crypto winter, so it may seem odd to present the “Bitcoin as legal tender” argument again. That is, will or should any country — other than El Salvador and the Central African Republic (CAR), which have already done so — declare Bitcoin (BTC) an official national currency?

International Monetary Fund and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) with jointly preparing a technical paper on crypto assets. The paper could be used to formulate a coordinated and comprehensive policy to regulate crypto assets. The G20 will draw up a universally acceptable international framework to regulate crypto assets and said that only a central bank-backed monetary unit would qualify as a currency. «To complement the ongoing dialogue on the need for a policy framework, the Indian Presidency has proposed a joint technical paper by the IMF and the FSB, which would synthesise the macroeconomic and regulatory perspectives of crypto assets,» according to an official statement. The joint technical paper would be presented at the finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in October 2023, it said.

The recent weakness in the crypto market has not invalidated the six-week-long ascending trend, even after a failed test of the channel's upper band on Feb. 21. The total crypto market capitalization remains above the psychological $1 trillion mark and, more importantly, cautiously optimistic after a new round of negative remarks from regulators.

India has said it wants a collective global effort to deal with problems posed by cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, and the finance ministry said it had held a seminar for G20 member states to discuss how to come up with a common framework. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Bengaluru, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said it was «critical» to put in place a strong regulatory framework but added that the United States had not suggested any outright bans. «We haven't suggested outright banning of crypto activities, but it is critical to put in place a strong regulatory framework,» Yellen said. «We're working with other governments.»

Last week was relatively calm regarding enforcement news but brought some peculiar local developments in regulation. United States Representative Tom Emmer introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that could prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC). According to the Minnesota lawmaker, the bill could prohibit the Fed from issuing a digital dollar “directly to anyone,” bar the central bank from implementing monetary policy based on a CBDC, and require transparency for projects related to a digital dollar.

The International Monetary Fund would prefer to differentiate and regulate crypto assets rather than enforce an outright ban, though the nuclear option will remain on the table for now.

The International Monetary Fund and the United States have shown support for India's plan to coordinate global crypto regulation during the recent G20 meeting. 

United States Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed the importance of implementing a strong regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies during a G20 meeting on Feb. 25. 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently made another anti-crypto move, expressing its opposition to crypto becoming a legal tender. In response to this, members of the crypto community were quick to fire back, going on Twitter to express disagreement. 

The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has assessed a paper on crypto asset policy published by the fund and expressed its agreement with its proposed policy framework. The paper, titled “Elements of Effective Policies for Crypto Assets,” developed a framework of nine policy principles that addressed macrofinancial, legal and regulatory, and international coordination issues. 

After a visit to El Salvador, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) suggested that the country reconsider its plans to increase exposure to Bitcoin (BTC). The community responded to the IMF’s suggestion with various messages calling out to the organization.

El Salvador has been advised to exercise caution in expanding government exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) due to the “speculative nature” of crypto markets by the global monetary watchdog.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is calling for increased regulation of Africa's crypto markets, one of the fastest-growing markets in the world, the global institution blog reported on Nov. 22. 

International Monetary Fund (IMF) observed in a blog post and flagged the attendant risks. It said that in the past few years Asian countries led by India, Vietnam and Thailand witnessed a steep rise in crypto ownership, leading to a scenario where the correlation between equity market performance and crypto asset performance had increased, «This indicates a growing interconnectedness between the two asset classes that permits the transmission of shocks that can impact financial markets,» said the blogpost authored by Nada Choueiri, mission chief for India at the IMF, and her colleagues. «Accordingly, authorities in Asia are increasingly sensitive to the rising risks posed by crypto as adoption continues to spread. They have therefore dialled up their focus on crypto regulation.» According to the post, volatility correlations between Indian equities and crypto assets have increased threefold since the pandemic, suggesting a possible spillover of risk sentiment between the two asset classes. Therefore, any negative sentiment in crypto markets now has more impact on investor sentiment in equity markets and vice-versa.