BASEL, Switzerland—The world’s biggest economies are assessing stablecoins as a potential risk to the global financial system, according to a statement from the Financial Stability Board (FSB).
In a letter to G20 finance ministers and cent
ral bank governors, the FSB’s chair Randal Quarles said the G7 working group is delivering an assessment report on opportunities and challenges posed by global stablecoins.
While the G20 leaders previously admitted crypto assets do not pose a threat to global financial stability, the introduction of global stablecoins could pose “a host of challenges” to the regulatory community, the chair said in the letter.
The regulator presents a range of issues stemming from stablecoins, including data privacy and protection, AML/CFT and KYC compliance, tax evasion, fair competition and market integrity, reported CoinDesk.
“While the letter does not point to any particular stablecoin as an example, major economies have been voicing their concerns over the anticipated issuance of Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency,” CoinDesk noted.
A Warning
The draft report on stablecoin from the G7 working group warns that even if Libra’s backers can address such concerns, the project may not get approval from regulators.
“Addressing such risks is not necessarily a guarantee of regulatory approval for a stablecoin arrangement,” the G7’s draft report says.
As CUToday.info reported, Facebook is facing challenges since major payment companies such as Visa, Mastercard, PayPal and Stripe withdrew from the company’s Libra project.