The Davos World Economic Forum announced it would create a new international consortium on digital currencies on Friday.
This consortium would define the rules for digital currencies and would include central banks, businesses and NGOs.
“Digital currencies are often considered a financial inclusion tool, but this fantastic opportunity will only work if it is managed properly,” the press release said.
Facebook introduced its Libra project last year, a digital currency that could benefit people that had been excluded from the banking system until now.
But regulators were up in arms about the project as they were concerned about the possible impact of a global digital currency that was co-managed by private parties.
There are now calls for a global public digital currency, including from Finance minister Bruno Le Maire and Bank of England governor Mark Carney.
“We have discussed it with numerous countries and banks and we have realised that there is a very high demand for a public-private cooperation that would help define a set of similar principles,” Sheila Warren, the director of the blockchain division of the World Economic Forum, told AFP.
Several front-line private organisations are happy about the Libra initiative, which should launch at the beginning of April.
The Bank for International Settlements announced the creation of a labour group made up of six central banks, including the European Central Bank (ECB), to accelerate the work on digital currency regulations.
The Brussels Times
