Cryptocurrencies and ICOs: challenging the regulatory perimeter

This concludes that regulators will continue assessing the opportunities of cryptocurrencies and ICOs against the risks they can pose to financial stability, customer protection and market integrity. This assessment will determine whether additional regulatory action or guidance is required in the future.

In the meantime, the reports from EU and UK regulators at the end of the year will give more clarity around their expectations and potential actions in the medium term. However, the international and decentralised dimension of cryptocurrencies’ underlying technology, and the lack of regulatory harmonisation, make the regulatory task more challenging.

“In this uncertain context, there is a case from both a regulatory and business perspective for cryptocurrency and ICO firms – both regulated and unregulated – to comply with the spirit and letter of the law for comparable regulated assets and services,” Deloitte states. “Building relevant regulatory requirements into product design, governance and control frameworks of a firm will help it be better prepared for what we see as the inevitability of regulation.”

Read the full blog post here.