Report Suggests 15 Countries are Planning Global Monitoring System for Cryptocurrency Under FATF

As per the latest report released by Nikkei Asian Review, a news outlet based in Tokyo, as many as 15 countries are planning to form a global digital currency monitoring system. This system will be developed alongside the FATF, short for Financial Action Task Force, the intergovernmental organization comprising over 35 member nations dedicated to fighting terrorism financing and money laundering globally.

Divulging more details, the report revealed that this crypto tracking system would collect, as well as share, both transaction data and personal information of individuals who carry out digital currency transactions. The purpose behind such a move is to prohibit usage of cryptocurrencies in illicit activities, such as terrorism financing and money laundering.

The FATF will design the system and complete outlining its measures thoroughly by 2020. The system is planned to be up and running in the next several years, states the report. Once the system is set up, its management would be handed over to the private sector.

The 15 countries involved in the crypto monitoring system development include G7 member nations, Singapore, and Australia.

We already know that Japan became the first nation to have introduced a legal framework for digital currency exchanges by establishing a registry back in 2017. It’s also worth mentioning that many nations have still not developed cryptocurrency regulatory regimes. Now with this move, the development of the legal measures for crypto may speed up with global cooperation.

FATF had also issued crypto regulation standards in the month of June, directing its member nations to establish rules for digital currency service providers. Moreover, the FATF directive had also mandated its member countries to monitor, report, and share suspicious transactions as well as crypto user data with fellow platforms. The previous month also saw the FATF permitting Japan to head the development of a global crypto payment network that’s similar to SWIFT used by banking network, to curb money laundering.