Standard Chartered Chairman José Viñals says that digital assets will have “extraordinary development” in the years to come. He says that his company is becoming involved, and he says other institutions, such as large international banks, are also coming into the cryptocurrency sector.
In an interview on CNBC, Capital Connection, Viñals says that his company is now present in the growing crypto sector, and that many other institutions are either there already, or will come into the sector in the near future.
He says that Standard Chartered has recently ventured into a custody solution for crypto with a partner.
However, he believes that the huge amount of innovation and opportunity within the crypto industry needs to be integrated with proper regulation that will lead to financial stability.
He does see issues within the crypto industry, such as financial criminals who are working behind some of the more “opaque” crypto platforms.
In his view, it is much better to have a fully regulated crypto assets sector that does not stifle innovation, rather than a “wild west” where many problems abound and where it will “continue to be the playground of criminals”.
Talking about calls for much tighter regulation of the industry, Viñals said that it will need “international coordination”. He draws the parallel between crypto and the internet, saying that the internet doesn’t have barriers, and neither does crypto and digital assets.
For that reason, he says that the approach needs to be one of international agreement that is consistent across all countries. Otherwise, he thinks it could be a “nightmare”.
Working on defining a set of standards has already begun according to Viñals. He says that regulators, the International Bank for Settlements, and other concerned bodies are currently preparing this.
He says that a number of jurisdictions have already given out licenses to crypto platforms to operate, but they are doing so in a totally free manner, given that appropriate regulation has still not been forthcoming.
“we need to bring in good, sound regulation to make sure that business is safe and can contribute to economic prosperity. So I think the opportunities are there. We just need to have the right regulatory approach to make it work properly.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
