Upcoming V20 Summit Might See the Proposed FATF Crypto Rules

What is the V20 Summit? And why is it related to the G20 Summit?

The V20 Summit is a two-day industry gathering for all VASPs (Virtual Asset Service Providers) such as Deloitte, SBI Group, and Huobi.

In its history, the V20 Summit has been tightly linked to the G20 Summit. During the 2014 G20 Brisbane edition, a conference on digital currency took place held by the Australian Digital Commerce Association. The following year, this initiative took a step forward with the creation of the V20 Summit, by memorandum between several blockchain and digital commerce bodies.

As mentioned in the press release, the V20 Summit “aims to unite members of the industry so that Virtual Asset Service Providers can discuss the appropriate adoption of suitable regulatory guidelines and technology solutions without creating roadblocks to innovation.”.

The 2019 V20 Summit was thrown together with just six weeks’ notice to coincide with the G20 Summit, set to take place in Osaka, Japan on June 28 and 29. The event is expected to gather executives from major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Circle, Kraken, Huobi, Coinbase and bitFlyer.

Alongside these executives, the V20 Summit will be attended by legislators, along with various national blockchain associations and VASPs. In parallel, the G20 Summit will supposedly be attended by blockchain association representatives from a range of countries including Singapore, China, South Korea, and Australia.

Learn more on the 2018 G20 Argentina edition cryptocurrency stand:
G20 Countries To Regulate Cryptocurrencies

The 2019 V20 Summit is all about ensuring security to providers’ users worldwide

It is expected that the upcoming V20 Summit will take cryptocurrency regulation one step forward. Representatives from the participating countries will gather together to assess the new proposals put forward by the international Financial Action Task Force (FATF) late February 2019.

They will especially reflect on the “unique nature of virtual asset transactions” by offering complimentary “bottom-up” regulations to the initial FATF February proposals. Another key argument to be debated during the V20 is the timeframe of efforts needed by corporations to put in place those above regulations. An extension of allocated time might be voted to help parties getting prepared fairly.

That said, legislators have high expectations from the FATF standards set by cryptocurrency and blockchain. All eyes are on Japanese Congressman, Naokazu Takemoto, who is expected to address the long-lasting financial security issues.

According to Takemoto, “the VASP industry recognizes the importance of clear regulation in preventing financial crime and mitigating corruption.”

But Regulating the Industry Might Be a Cause of Concern

While the expectations are high, too many regulations on the cryptocurrency could backfire. Even though legislators are aware that there’s a need to achieve balance to initiate a period of adaptation in the face of upcoming regulations, it is a well-known fact that flexibility and non-compliance don’t usually follow FATF recommendations.

According to Roger Wilkins, who is the former secretary for the Australian Department of the Attorney General and the ex-president of FATF, a common concern among regulators is the fact that too many regulations and restrictions could repel the public from controlled platforms.

In his words, “What we are hearing from the industry is that the new rules may have the opposite effect to which they were intended, effectively forcing crypto transactions off the controlled platforms, which are currently one of the best avenues we have in gaining visibility over financial crime.”

Meanwhile, legislators agree that it is necessary to strike the right balance to be able to make the most out of upcoming regulations.

It will be interesting to see how things evolve and what the proposed solutions will be.

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FATF To Impose Global Cryptocurrency Licencing and Regulations By July 2019