Global Financial Stability Report Press Conference

This is mildly interesting.

Transcript of April 2021 Global Financial Stability Report Press Conference (April 6, 2021)

Includes a video of the press briefing.

Near the end, we have a question about cryptos.

Thank you for doing this. I wanted to ask you about IMF's stand on cryptocurrency. Should it be banned, or should it be allowed in some format? Also, what is the view on government-controlled digital currencies like digital rupee?

A fairly rambling answer includes the following:

It is important to keep in mind that the technologies, DLT, distributed ledger technology, and blockchains, those technologies can be applied in other domains as well. For example, we have seen stablecoins emerge. We have seen some of the technologies being used for clearing in securities markets; and more generally, the operations of the financial system can be greatly improved and be more effective by using new technologies. That I think is the opportunity, and policymakers are very focused on making sure that all countries and the population at large will really benefit from these technological improvements.

Define "benefits". Smells like total control of every wallet in the world would be of great benefit... to someone.

Of course, there are risks as well, and so policies always have to balance taking advantage of opportunities with minimizing risks. Some of the risks are visible today in cryptocurrencies; for example, valuations are stretched in some of the cryptocurrencies, so investors could be exposed to a further rise or a fall in valuations.

Remember that "minimising risks" is bankster-speak for maximising control and minimising your profits. If you don't have enough money to off-shore your profits, then you pay the price of your national taxes.

Secondly, there are concerns about the integrity of some of these means of payments and investment vehicles, so integrity here refers to the overall ability of law enforcement and of governments to make sure that payment flows and capital flows are used in legitimate, legal manners, so that is another policy priority. So taking advantage of technologies to make access more broad, to have financial inclusion for everybody, but also to make sure that new forms of payments and new forms of investment are used for legitimate purchases, so that is what financial integrity means.

Here we go... law enforcement. No rug-pulls! But, you're an adult, you know the consequences, you know some coins are algorithmic theft. Somehow, gambling is OK, but crypto isn't.

There are multiple policy objectives. Last year the G-20 released an important report that is laying out the way in which international financial institutions, together with the central banks around the world, are working together to enhance the cross-border payment system. The IMF is working alongside the BIS, the Bank for International Settlements, and the FSB, the Financial Stability Board, as well as the central banks around the world, to really improve global cross-border payments to make sure that they are cheap, accessible and safe.

So, sadly, pretty dull stuff.

However, the funniest part is right at the very beginning and not directly related to cryptos:

Central bankers have proven to be highly skillful during this past year as they successfully engineered the financial rescue. In the year ahead, the creativity is likely to be severely tested again, as they confront the challenge of guiding their economies through asynchronous recoveries, stretched market valuations, and strained social divisions.

Let's all bow to the central banksters for engineering a global economic collapse to coincide with a plandemic.