The Crypto world has its eyes firmly placed on the G20 Summit in Japan on the 28-29th of June, as Government leaders meet to establish a new precedent in regulations for the world of Cryptocurrency.
Following proposed standards by the FATF earlier in the year, the G20 global leaders released a declaration to “regulate cryptocurrencies and combat its use for money laundering and the financing of terrorism in line with the recommendation of the FATF”. The declaration caused quite a stir within the crypto community and has seen industry leaders band together to seek alternatives to the FATF proposed regulations.
What is the FATF?
The Financial Action Task Force is an inter-governmental body whose goal is to set global standards to combat anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. With over 36 member countries, the policies drafted by the FATF are highly regarded and treated as law by its member countries.
In February 2019, the FATF put forward proposed standards that would require Virtual Asset Service Providers, including cryptocurrency exchanges, to not only verify their customers’ identities but also the recipients of their customers’ transfers. The FATF sought industry feedback on these standards, which are due to be finalized during the G20 Summit in Osaka.
In response to these proposals, leading digital asset exchanges and key industry trade representatives, whom will be directly affected by these proposals, have moved forward and initiated a separate event to run parallel to the G20 summit where the proposed FATF proposal will be debated, called the V20 Summit
What is the V20 Summit?
The V20 Summit is a critical two-day industry summit for the world’s leading ‘Virtual Asset Service Providers’, held in parallel to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Osaka, Japan, with representation from leading digital asset exchanges, key industry representative bodies and guests from the FATF.
Why has it been created?
Following the proposals by the FATF, leading exchanges and industry leaders recognize the need to drive international communication between governments and the industry to deliver a “coordinated response to the updated standards proposed by the FATF.”
The goal of the summit is to develop a solution that satisfies both regulators and businesses alike and keep the current trust the crypto community has built over the last 11 years. Through running the summit parallel to the G20 leaders summit, key government leaders will attend discussions that will help drive the conversation forward. The V20 organizers feel that without the unified support of Virtual Asset Service Providers and digital exchanges, there will be no voice at the table for these discussions.
Who will be in attendance?
The summit will have representatives of international trade associations, leaders of digital asset exchanges as well as key domestic industry representative bodies and invitees from the FATF. Key industry leaders such as Deloitte, Kraken, Coindesk and the Access Blockchain Association will be in attendance to discuss.
What do they hope to achieve from the summit?
A round table summit of government agencies, crypto companies, and FATF representatives at the G20 Summit in Osaka
The Regulation proposed by the industry reflecting the unique nature of virtual assets to influence the FATF proposal.
An extension of the timeline for the updated FATF standards to come into effect.
Development of protocols and standards to underpin a platform to meet the information collection requirements of FATF.
Sources: G20.org, fatf-gafi.org, V20.io, Saudigazzete.com.sa