On 16 July 2018, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) has published a report describing international work on crypto-assets.

The report follows a letter that FSB Chair Mark Carney sent to G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors in March noting that crypto-assets raise a host of issues around consumer and investor protection, as well as their use to shield illicit activity and for money laundering and terrorist financing. At the same time, the technologies underlying them have the potential to improve the efficiency and inclusiveness of both the financial system and the economy.

In essence the report notes that international work on crypto-assets can be summarised as follows:

• the FSB, in collaboration with the Committee on Payments and Market Infrastructures (CPMI), has developed a framework and identified metrics to monitor the financial stability implications of crypto-assets markets;
• CPMI has conducted significant work on applications of distributed ledger technology, and is conducting outreach, monitoring and analysis of payment innovations;
• the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has established an initial coin offering (ICO) consultation network to discuss experiences and concerns regarding ICOs, and is developing a support framework to assist members in considering how to address domestic and cross-border issues stemming from ICOs that could impact investor protection. IOSCO is discussing other issues around crypto-assets, including, for example, regulatory issues around crypto-assets platforms; and
• the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is quantifying the materiality of banks’ direct and indirect exposures to crypto-assets, clarifying the prudential treatment of such exposures, and monitoring developments related to crypto-assets and FinTech for banks and supervisors.