IMF advocates for 'coordinated' crypto policy among the world's governments

The International Monetary Fund issued a call for a "comprehensive, consistent and coordinated" global policy front on cryptocurrency this week.

In a blog post, IMF officials Tobias Adrian, Dong He, and Aditya Narain advocated for such a policy framework amid rapid growth in the industry for digital assets. The three contend that amid such growth, growing risks require a corresponding policy response.

"Such risks underscore why we now need comprehensive international standards that more fully address risks to the financial system from crypto assets, their associated ecosystem, and their related transactions, while allowing for an enabling environment for useful crypto asset products and applications," they wrote.

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As the blog post later noted:

"There is an urgent need for cross-border collaboration and cooperation to address the technological, legal, regulatory, and supervisory challenges. Setting up a comprehensive, consistent, and coordinated regulatory approach to crypto is a daunting task. But if we start now, we can achieve the policy goal of maintaining financial stability while benefiting from the benefits that the underlying technological innovations bring."

Such a perspective is to be expected, and mirrors calls from other international organizations, including the Bank of International Settlements. This year, officials such as ECB leader Christine Lagarde -- herself a former managing director of the IMF -- have called for coordinated policy moves on crypto. On a practical level, such calls are reflected in frameworks such has the Financial Action Task Force's "travel rule," for example.