Amidst the pioneering fintech revolution, the biggest risk of cryptocurrency could be money laundering and its use for financing terror, said Union Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday (local time). Sitharaman made the remarks during her address at a seminar under the ongoing spring meet of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Sitharaman expressed her concerns about the use of cryptocurrency to launder money and fund terror activities. She stated, “I think the biggest risk for all countries across the board will be the money laundering aspect and also the aspect of currency being used for financing terror.”
Sitharaman added that the deployment of technological means to regulate transactions is the only way to prevent the misuse of cryptocurrencies. The minister said,”I think regulation using technology is the only answer. Regulation using technology will have to be so adept, that it has to be not behind the curve, but be sure that it is on the top of it. And that’s not possible. If any one country thinks that it can handle it. It has to be across the board.”
The Union Finance Minister reached Washington today morning on an official visit to attend the Spring Meetings at the World Bank, the G20 Finance Ministers meeting and the Central Bank Governor Meeting (FMCBG). On her first day of the visit, Sitharaman participated in a high-level panel discussion on “Money at a Crossroad” hosted by IMF Managing Director, Kristalina Georgieva. “We are at the crossroads around how fast, how far, and in what proportion, but I see this as a one-way street in which Digital Money is going to play a bigger role,” the IMF chief said in her opening remarks.
