Let’s sustain our influence over the G20’s digital stance

livemint.com:

In the end, the 2023 G20 Leaders Summit was over almost before it started. Halfway through Day 1, Indian negotiators had hammered out a consensus on the Leaders’ Declaration that, in the words of India’s G20 Sherpa, had “absolutely no dissent, no footnotes, no chair summaries." It was that rare example of a well-achieved global consensus. With 112 outcomes and presidency documents, India’s was arguably also the most productive G20 presidency, having more than tripled the substantive output of previous presidencies.

That all this got done in less time than was available makes it all the more impressive. As I read through the leaders’ statement, I was struck by the extent to which it referenced new technologies and how they needed to be governed. These are issues that have often featured in articles in this column, and so I thought it might be useful to see how the consensus reflected in the New Delhi Declaration will influence the way new technologies will be regulated.

One such area of focus was the regulation of crypto and other virtual assets. With the rise in incidents of investor fraud, the global community has been looking to forge a consensus on how they should be regulated. The G20 nations have agreed to adopt the recommendations of the Financial Stability Board on crypto assets and give effect to the standards published by the Financial Action Task Force—including, in particular, its travel rule as it pertains to crypto assets.