Earlier today, it was reported that a brand-new Digital Finance Institute launched with a mandate to work towards supporting international financial technology innovation with bonds regulation that addresses financial inclusion globally.
The Institute has been put in place to serve as a sort of figurehead of global fintech support and regulation – something that has become a necessity as financial technology becomes more innovative and more and more ingrained into our daily lives.
Christine Duhaime, co-founder of the Digital Finance Institute and a prominent financial regulatory and counter terrorist financing lawyer in Canada has this to say about the launch:
“With the evolution of the Internet of Things and Bitcoin for example, fintech is developing at an incredible pace globally and it is important that we start balancing innovation and regulation to ensure that digital fintech can thrive without overly burdensome regulation and without causing more of a financial inclusion problem around the world”
She elaborated further:
“As we add regulatory requirements to financial transactions, including in the digital fintech space, we negatively impact venture capital funding, stifle innovation and force greater numbers of people out of the banking system globally, especially women and people living in poverty… The place to start is with fintech’s innovative platforms because they are largely unregulated.”
What impact the Digital Finance Institute will have on crypto currency regulation remains unclear, but one thing is for certain – that the collaborative effort between academia and the public and private sectors the Digital Finance Institute brings is a more effective and sensible way forward than leaving it in the hands of uneducated – and possibly biased – politicians.
In a world where some form of regulation is inevitable if bitcoin is to become a mainstream means of exchange, this is – in my opinion at least – a step in the right direction.
What do you think?