Bitcoin, together with other cryptocurrencies are assets believed to expose business persons to many risks and need urgency in regulation as mentioned by the Treasury select committee. They also said that it led to consumers’ money being lost in an uncontrolled and unregulated industry whereas the regulators and governments failed to take action. Nicky Morgan, a conservative member of parliament, said that the situation currently was unsustainable. The unregulated sector led to some challenges facing the investors as noted by Morgan. With such high prices, the vulnerability level of hacking and exchange of money laundering is quite high. Treasury strongly recommends a regulating law to this issue.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not cover crypto-assets, and so far no regulation is set to deal with consumer or investor compensation. Through a report, the commission debates that a minimum control should be made to strengthen the consumer protection and money laundering in the cryptocurrency industry. According to a report by a committee, the general prices of cryptocurrencies were so high that the expected gains could match the loss expectation. It was agreed upon the by FCA committee that Bitcoins and other forms of cryptos such as Litecoin and Etherium were not beneficial to the economies. It was just a form of money laundering by some individuals who wanted to get money from the broad capital markets.
The price of one Bitcoin is nearly $6,270. In the year 2017, the bitcoin went up in value to more than 900% reaching the highest point of around $20,000 during the month of December. Jamie Dimon, the chief executive officer at JP Morgan, termed Bitcoin as a fraud and only beneficial for murderers, persons residing in North Korea and drug dealers. Dimon criticized bitcoin and predicted that it’s immediate downfall and the people behind it saying that people cannot create a currency out of thin air and expect it to thrive in business.
A report by the Treasury committee said that the cryptocurrency’s processes of exchange were highly vulnerable to cyber-attacks and loss op passwords, which led to the permanent lock of accounts. They, however, stated that if under proper regulations, it could be quite a pleasant opportunity for Britain. Iqbal Gandham, the chairperson of CryptoUK, said that the regulation by individual shareholders in the industry was just a beginning step. It was now time for the government to aid in this process to ensure quality control, safe markets, and workable legislative mechanisms to regulate the broad economic industry.
Dil Bole Oberoi
