Is Crypto The Right Fit For Me?

The crypto market is still largely unregulated, but this could soon change after the G20 meeting in March.

The market has gone through some massive fluctuations over the last few months with values rising and falling daily. Prices peaked at around $20,000 per coin in December 2017 before beginning to decline again towards the end of January. This brought about some comment from regulators who pointed out they were often used for illegal activities despite having legitimate uses too.

However, Reuters reports that new guidelines are being prepared by regulators ahead of an upcoming meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina next month. It appears there will be more of an attempt to bring these currencies under the auspices of existing laws rather than imposing new rules.

This is very much in line with what has been said by Jay Clayton, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who stated that these tokens should be treated as securities, where applicable, but also noted it would depend on their construction.

There are already divisions emerging over them because some authorities believe they are akin to commodities, simply because they can be traded for goods or services. This view is shared by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US, which claims they are not securities since they do “not have future contracts at this time .” They are also registered with the CFTC, which is currently considering whether these coins should be treated as commodities or derivatives.

However, even though digital money does not fit into established legal categories, many think it is inevitable it will be regulated. And if the G20 agrees, it could also affect how cryptocurrencies are governed within individual countries too.

The market ahead of G20 meeting in March – some believe they are commodities because they can be traded for goods or services – CFTC believes cryptocurrencies are not securities because they do “not have future contracts at this time” – G20 may agree these crypto should be treated as commodities or derivatives

What to expect from the market

The market is still largely unregulated, but this could soon change after the G20 meeting in March.

The market has gone through some massive fluctuations over the last few months with values rising and falling daily. Prices peaked at around $20,000 per coin in December 2017 before beginning to decline again towards the end of January. This brought about some comment from regulators who pointed out these coins were often used for illegal activities despite having legitimate uses too.

However, Reuters reports that new guidelines are being prepared by regulators ahead of an upcoming meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors at the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Argentina next month. It appears there will be more of an attempt to bring cryptocurrencies under the auspices of existing laws rather than imposing new rules.

This is very much in line with what has been said by Jay Clayton, chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who stated that crypto tokens should be treated as securities, where applicable, but also noted it would depend on their construction.