On 7 December, finance officials from the G7 (Group of Seven) advanced economies met for their 12th meeting, in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst discussing domestic and international economic responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, one thing to come out of the meeting was that the finance ministers and central bankers confirmed that they strongly support the need to regulate digital currencies.
The Treasury reported that the G7 finance officials discussed ongoing responses to "the evolving landscape of crypto assets and other digital assets and national authorities' work to prevent their use for malign purposes and illicit activities." They confirmed that there is strong support across the G7 on the need to regulate digital currencies.
In October the G7 officials issued a joint statement on digital payments which said that digital payments could improve access to financial services and cut inefficiencies and costs. The finance officials reiterated their support for this joint statement in their meeting on 7 December.
After the meeting, the German Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz, issued a statement outlining his concerns about the launch of Facebook's Diem cryptocurrency (previously named Libra) in Europe and whether it should be authorised. He said “It is clear to me that Germany and Europe cannot and will not accept its entry into the market while the regulatory risks are not adequately addressed.” Diem is set to launch as early as January 2021, which is reportedly to be a single coin backed one-for-one by the dollar.
G7 finance officials back need to regulate digital currencies: Treasury
