23 November 2022

Remarks by the IOSCO Fintech Task Force Chair at Singapore Fintech Festival - Applying and Adapting IOSCO Principles to Digital Asset Market

A mere one year ago from today, crypto-assets peaked at just over $3 trillion, but today about two-thirds of that value has been digitally erased and some are calling this a “crypto winter”.

..As the title of this panel suggests, I will be talking about “Applying and Adapting IOSCO Principles to Digital Assets Markets”. Before that, let me share some background on digital assets and why is IOSCO looking into this space.

Given where I am standing right now, at this very event, I think many of you in the audience are familiar with digital assets. These refer to anything of value whose ownership is represented in a digital or computerised form, through a process called tokenisation. Broadly speaking, digital assets can refer to anything, including real assets like artwork and property, but today our primary focus is on crypto-assets and DeFi.

A mere one year ago from today, crypto-assets peaked at just over $3 trillion, but today about two-thirds of that value has been digitally erased and some are calling this a “crypto winter”.

This does not mean that crypto-assets are a thing of the past.

While it is a good thing that some of that speculative fervour has died down, we know from the news, that the lines between the crypto-asset ecosystem, and the traditional financial system are starting to blur. Case in point – Bank of New York Mellon has launched a Digital Asset Custody platform, allowing select clients to hold and transfer Bitcoin and Ether. Brokers in the traditional financial markets, like Robinhood, are now allowing customers to also trade crypto-assets.  
International scrutiny
On a global level, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) are calling for more regulation of this sector. The FSB recently published, on 11 October 2022, two consultation papers on the international regulation, supervision and oversight of crypto-assets activities and markets – from a financial stability perspective.  ...

 more at  IOSCO Fintech Task Force Chair at Singapore Fintech Festival - Applying and Adapting IOSCO Principles to Digital Asset Markets" target="_blank">IOSCO

© IOSCO