SEC chair pleads for power to protect crypto investors in ‘volatile sector‘
US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler called for legislation focused on “crypto trading, lending and DeFi platforms,” in a letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren. “I believe we need additional authorities to prevent transactions, products, and platforms from falling between regulatory cracks. We also need more resources to protect investors in this growing and volatile sector.” He also said “the use of stablecoins on [crypto] platforms may facilitate those seeking to sidestep a host of public policy goals connected to our traditional banking and financial system: anti-money laundering, tax compliance, sanctions, and the like.”
Digital euro has potential in the Netherlands
Research about central bank digital currency (CBDC) has been silent about consumers’ willingness to use CBDC and what triggers usage. This De Nederlandsche Bank paper reports on the results of a survey among a representative group of Dutch citizens to fill this gap. It found that about half of the Dutch population would be willing to open a current account for digital euros at the central bank. The not-for-profit nature of central banks was the most often mentioned rationale. The second was improved resilience of the electronic retail payment system, and third was its relative safety versus cash.
2020 saw the number of registered and active mobile money accounts grow to new levels globally, but Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) had by far the fastest growth of any region. LAC now counts 39 million registered accounts, representing a 38 per cent year-on-year growth, while active accounts reached 16 million, growing by an outstanding 67 per cent – the highest rate since 2013. LAC also continues to be the region with the highest activity rate, with over 40 per cent of all accounts being active on a monthly basis.
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