This week’s news from Japan included additional comments against crypto trading from China, Binance’s potential involvement in Japan, positivity from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more crypto exits from European Union (EU) regions, and stablecoin positivity from France. Check out some of this week’s crypto and blockchain headlines, originally reported by Cointelegraph Japan. China reaffirms its stance against crypto trading Crypto-hostile China has once again confirmed its ban on crypto asset trading, according to comments from Beijing’s director of Financial Supervisory Administration Huo Xuewen. "Virtual currencies cannot be used as legitimate digital currencies," Huo said to a Chinese news outlet …

Digital currencies have gained prominence over the last few years, although such options will not budge the U.S. dollar from its seat of prominence, according to chief economist International Monetary Fund (IMF) Gita Gopinath. “Improvements in payment technology may have lowered the cost of switching from cash to digital payments, but there is little evidence they have done much to reduce the expense of moving among currencies,” Gopinath said in an opinion piece for the Financial Times on Jan. 6, adding: “Widely-held perceptions of the dollar’s safety and stability have kept it dominant in the international monetary system for decades.” …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has encouraged the Philippines’ central bank to explore the possibility of starting to collect data on cross-border flows of crypto assets. The IMF made the recommendation in a Technical Assistance Report paper, released Dec. 30, 2019, and based on data from the Fund’s Monetary and Financial Statistics Mission in the country in July 2019. IMF mission recommendations According to the report, the IMF’s Philippines mission delivered a lecture on the treatment of crypto-assets in macroeconomic statistics at the request of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) earlier this year. Summarizing the mission’s lecture, the report …

In recent months, the race for the development of a central bank digital currency is gaining pace. The last signal was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who publicly stated the need to invest public resources in blockchain, slated to be the core technology of the future. The euphoria of the Chinese market following the presidential declaration induced Mark Zuckerberg — who had been encountering considerable resistance from Western authorities since the beginning of the Libra project — to raise the alarm on an alleged Chinese overtaking of digital currency technology. A CBDC is a new type of legal tender …

The former head of People’s Bank of China (PBoC), Zhou Xiaochuan has argued that the Libra stablecoin would be more readily trusted if it were in the hands of an organization like the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Zhou is the longest-serving governor of China’s central bank to date, having held the role between 2002 and 2018. During his tenure, China soared to become one of the world’s leading economies. Zhou made his comments during a speech delivered in Beijing as part of the 10th Caixin Summit on Nov. 8, according to a tweet from Dovey Wan, founding partner of blockchain …

Bitcoin (BTC) may only be ten years old, but it is about to match half the lifespan of the average fiat currency — while actually increasing in value. Average fiat dies in 27 years As Bitcoin statistician and commentator Willy Woo noted on Oct. 18, the largest cryptocurrency has been around 40% as long as the average government-issued currency. Woo was referencing a 2018 study by DollarDaze. Out of 775 fiat currencies past and present, researchers concluded the average lifespan is just 27 years. The longest-living fiat currency, the British pound sterling, has lost practically all its value since its …

Cross-border transactions on crypto assets are already relevant and have already had a considerable impact on the domestic economy of some countries. For example, last month, the Central Bank of Brazil (BACEN) reviewed the Brazilian Trade Balance for crypto assets with new classifications under IMF standards. In Georgia, for example, which accounts for about 15% of global Bitcoin (BTC) mining, companies receive an estimated $700 million from Bitcoin mining annually. This represents about 5% of the country’s GDP, or 10% of exported goods and services. Crypto assets and international guidelines The fact is that the sudden rise of crypto assets …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has released a blog in which it outlines the potential benefits and downsides associated with the adoption of new digital payment methods, including stablecoins. In its recently published blog entitled “The Rise of Digital Money,” the IMF said stablecoins — digital currencies pegged to a physical asset or fiat currency and designed to minimize price volatility — could bring significant benefits to customers and society but are not without risks. The benefits, risks and regulatory issues The IMF said banks could lose their role as intermediaries, as the public would switch to stablecoin providers. However, …

The nominee to be the next president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, has said central banks and financial bodies should protect consumers but be open to innovations such as cryptocurrencies. Changes are opportunities Lagarde, who is currently head of the International Monetary Fund, told the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament that central banks and financial regulators should embrace the opportunities presented by change. In her opening statement, shared with Cointelegraph via an IMF news release, Lagarde said: ”In the case of new technologies – including digital currencies – that means being alert to …

When we hear about holders of crypto being tracked down by the Internal Revenue Service, or that imprisonment is being considered for anyone using crypto in India, it conjures up a disconcerting image of what regulation might entail. It’s part of crypto’s DNA to be unregulated, some might say. It falls outside the scope of government and should remain so for all the reasons it was created in the first place. But if crypto is the future and there are valid concerns, then surely these should be addressed. If we want crypto to be accepted and become part of our …

The Central Bank of Brazil has moved to classify bought or sold cryptocurrency assets per International Monetary Fund (IMF) guidelines. Brazil’s central bank announced its decision on Aug. 26. With the new classification under IMF standards, traded cryptocurrencies will be classified as non-financial products and as such, will be accounted as goods on the central bank’s balance sheet. A central bank balance sheet, just like a regular bank’s balance sheet, summarizes its financial position, and is made up of assets, equity and liabilities. Since purchasing and selling cryptocurrency involves the execution of foreign exchange contracts, the central bank considers selling …

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has called on global regulators to pay attention and take proper regulatory action regarding Facebook’s Libra. Speaking with Reuters on July 17, Gita Gopinath, chief economist at the IMF, urged the global regulatory community to pay serious attention to Facebook’s crypto project during the early stages of its development. Gopinath emphasized that global financial regulators should act immediately to ensure that they are not too late in taking the necessary measures. Gopinath outlined the major risks associated with the stablecoin, including concerns about data privacy, consumer protection, as well as what she called backdoor dollarization. …