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Dong He, Karl Habermeier, Ross Leckow, Vikram Haksar, Yasmin Almeida, Mikari Kashima, Nadim Kyriakos-Saad, Hiroko Oura, Tahsin Saadi Sedik, Natalia Stetsenko and Concepcion Verdugo-Yepes
Virtual Currencies and Beyond
Initial Considerations
IMF, 2016
What's inside?
It’s possible to regulate the evolving world of virtual currencies without suppressing innovation.
Recommendation
Bitcoin, a form of virtual currency, has received a lot of attention in recent years – and for good reason. Virtual currencies can facilitate all sorts of transactions, but because of the anonymity conferred on users, this digital money can fund terrorism, assist in crimes and abet money laundering. A staff team at the International Monetary Fund looks into this rapidly changing phenomenon and makes suggestions for how best to govern it without suppressing innovation. getAbstract recommends this comprehensive and informative report to business managers, economists, policy makers, and anyone with an interest in e-commerce and digital trade.
Summary
About the Authors
Dong He et al. are staff members of the International Monetary Fund.
Comment on this summary
VCs can’t serve as a “store of value” due to their price instability - Money markets are also not completely stable. I posit the more frequent ups and downs are the result of it being a computer based currency and that the traditional currency markets will become just as volatile once they are controlled more by algorithms.
VC isn’t an “independent unit of account” since transactors gauge a VC’s value by its exchange rate with a legal currency. - By this logic many countries including Saudi Arabia don't have true currencies because they are pegged to the US dollar.
their use as a “medium of exchange” is also restricted, because only a limited audience pays for and accepts transactions with VCs. - Currently accurate. Similar to how Credit Cards weren't accepted everywhere initially (or at fast food chains until fairly recently). Merchants will find a way to get money if enough customers want to pay with VC.