UNICEF, the United Nations fund devoted to helping disadvantaged children around the globe, says the widespread adoption of crypto will necessitate national and international regulations.
In a new report, the UN agency argues digital assets have the potential to increase financial inclusion, offering “significant benefits to the livelihoods of families around the world.”
UNICEF says digital asset technology could improve remittances and make social assistance programs more transparent and efficient.
The agency also says that unregulated crypto projects pose serious threats.
“On the other hand, unregulated cryptocurrencies pose a threat to the stability of financial systems, government revenues on which many child services depend, and children directly when they facilitate unregulated transactions that underpin child trafficking, sexual exploitation, the sale and purchase of content depicting child abuse, and the defrauding and extortion of children.”
UNICEF says “now is the time” to incorporate crypto child safeguards into online child protection initiatives.
The UN Fund also notes that 87 countries representing 90% of the world’s economy are actively exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
Says the agency,
“These developments will eventually require the emergence of national and international legal and regulatory frameworks.
Developing countries will have to choose between adopting digital currencies of major economies, issuing their own and figuring out interoperability (the direction Tunisia appears to be moving in with the eDinar), or betting on decentralized cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance (as Ecuador has done).”
UNICEF began accepting Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) donations in 2019, billing itself as the first UN organization to utilize crypto.
Originally Published Here
