One of the main themes to be discussed at the G-20 Financial Ministers and Central Governors Meeting this weekend has to do with money laundering and cryptocurrency. What kind of agreement would be a surprise? Even for the purpose of introducing Anti-Money Laundering (AML), should we allow our financial privacy to be compromised? Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of Beam, shared his views with Cointelegraph.
A new agreement on crypto and AML?
Jiji Press, a major Japanese publication, recently reported that there will be “a new kind of agreement as to cryptocurrency and AML/CFT.“ But for blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis, which has “engaged directly with global regulators,” it is surprising if they agree on something new. Jesse Spiro, head of policy at Chainalysis, expects Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidance, which will be published later this month, to reflect the draft guidance that they issued in March this year.
“It would surprise us if FATF substantially modified the pre-existing draft in any major substantive way.”
He summarized the FATF draft as an agreement in the industry that “certain standards, including proper Know Your Customer (KYC), enhanced due diligence (EDD), transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting are necessary to combat money laundering”
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is an intergovernmental body formed to fight money laundering and combat the financing of terrorism. In a previous G-20 meeting, the G-20 said that they would “commit to implement the FATF standards as they apply to crypto-assets.”
An official self-regulatory organization in the host country watches the G-20 closely
The Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association (JVCEA) refrained from predicting the outcome of the G-20 summit but told Cointelegraph that it would be ready for compliance:
“We are watching global movements as to AML/CFT very closely. We supervise our members, Japanese crypto exchanges to make sure that they comply with them.”
According to Alexander Zaidelson, the CEO of a privacy coin-centered Beam, the governments “may eventually strengthen the regulatory scrutiny to on- and off-ramps, i.e. places where cryptocurrency can be converted into Fiat currency, mostly exchanges” He also added that there also may be an “attack” on unregulated exchanges.
Beam is known as a privacy coin that adopts a protocol called MimbleWimble, which seeks to improve both privacy and scalability at the same time. When asked if he is concerned that the G-20 might somehow ban anonymous coins, Zaidelson answered: