Australia central bank No need to regulate Cryptocurrencies & Blockchain

Australia central bank, the Reserve Bank of Australia has claimed that there is no need to put regulations on ‘Cryptocurrencies’ and the underlying ‘Blockchain’ technology. This information has emerged a month back during a hearing before the Australian Parliament. Just few months back, Australia had clarified that ‘Bitcoin’ could be used like any other currency. But it has also been noticed that the ‘Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’, in the month of October, has received 245 complaints regarding frauds involving ‘Bitcoin’.

The Australian Parliamentary Committee had given some important recommendations regarding amendments to the ‘Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing Law’. These included provisions for regulating individuals who trade in ‘Cryptocurrencies’. It was also specified that ‘AUSTRAC’, Australia’s financial intelligence unit, was to be given additional rights with respect to the cryptocurrencies.

On this occassion, senior officials of Australia’s central bank were called to clarify its stand on the issue. Accordingly, two officials from the ‘Payments Policy Department’ of the ‘Reserve Bank of Australia‘, Tony Richards and David Emery were present at the Australian Parliament and have testified that the cryptocurrencies and their underlying Blockchain technology do not need to be subjected to any regulations. These officials also claimed that the Reserve Bank of Australia would not back any regulations on the protocols concerning the Blockchain network. These Australian officials have termed ‘Bitcoin’ and other ‘cryptocurrencies’ as ‘Digital Currencies’ in their testimonies.

“The distributed and cross-border nature of digital currencies like Bitcoin means that regulation of the core protocols of these systems is unlikely to be effective. From the Bank’s payments policy mandate, digital currencies do not currently appear to raise any pressing regulatory issues”, were the words in which these officials of Reserve Bank of Australia have given their clarification. These officials have also predicted that Blockchain technology and the digital currencies are here to stay.

Though the Reserve Bank of Australia has ruled out regulating a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin, it has come to fore that the frauds concerning cryptocurrencies are on a rise in Australia. The ‘Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’, has informed of receiving 245 complaints regarding frauds involving ‘Bitcoin’, just in the month of October itself. They have clarified that AUD 82 thousand have been lost in these frauds by the consumers.