Ian's Insights: Can BIS Unite the International Community on Cryptoassets?

A key inhibitor of crypto adoption has been a lack of regulatory clarity and coordination across central banks. For key use cases to be unlocked, such as global payment processing or global stablecoin adoption, international standards need to be informed and accepted.

The Bank of International Settlements (BIS), which promotes coordination and dialogue among central banks and contributes to the Basel framework of international capital standards, is a key participant in conversations about cryptoassets.

We found their previous writings to be ‘tough but fair’ and pragmatic about the role that cryptoassets can play in the global financial system.

Recently, BIS published a bulletin on ‘Addressing the Risks in Crypto: Laying Out the Options’ that summarizes the key lessons of 2022 and offers insights on how to move forward.

They use a ban, contain, and regulate framework while noting that the options are not mutually exclusive.

While we don’t know the path cryptoassets will take towards adoption on an international scale, we can be sure that local regulators and central banks don’t know either. They will be relying on organizations like the BIS to promote education, standards, and understanding.