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Bitcoin has come out of its niche in recent years and is now
bought by ordinary people, investment funds and even large
corporations. Some have even taken out loans to buy more of the
cryptocurrency, whose value has increased almost tenfold since
last March.
But its largely anonymous nature has raised concerns that it
could be used for money laundering and other illegal activities.
"(Bitcoin) is a highly speculative asset, which has conducted
some funny business and some interesting and totally
reprehensible money laundering activity," Lagarde said in an
interview at the Reuters Next conference.
Lagarde did not provide specific examples of money laundering
cases but said she understood there had been criminal
investigations into illegal activity. She did not elaborate.
The cryptocurrency sector is still mostly lightly overseen or
unregulated, although global standards on areas such as
anti-money laundering (AML) have emerged.
She joined a number of regulators from across the world in
calling for implementing global rules for cryptocurrencies.
"There has to be regulation. This has to be applied and agreed
upon ... at a global level because if there is an escape that
escape will be used," Lagarde said.
For more coverage from the Reuters Next conference please click
here or www.reuters.com/business/reuters-next
To watch Reuters Next live, visit
https://www.reutersevents.com/
events/next/register.php
(Reporting by Alessandra Galloni, Francesco Canepa and Balazs
Koranyi; Editing by Catherine Evans)
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