Paolo Savona, chairman of the Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob) - Italy's securities regulator - has raised the alarm over the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies due to a lack of strict regulatory standards.
According to Reuters, Savona revealed this stance by delivering Consob's annual report on Monday, stating that the lack of clear regulations creates opportunities for criminals to use cryptocurrencies for illegal activities. According to Savona:
"Without proper oversight, market transparency, the basis of legitimacy and rational choice for (market) operators may be compromised."
Despite several academic studies indicating that crypto crime represents only a negligible portion of the global cryptocurrency trade, Savona has joined the chorus of financial regulators who are promoting a virtual currency crime agenda.
El Salvador's recent parliamentary vote to adopt Bitcoin ( BTC ) as legal tender has drawn criticism from several financial legacy watchdogs. In the Netherlands, one Dutch official has called for a complete ban on cryptocurrencies .
Speaking earlier on CNBC's Squawk Box program, Mohamed El-Erian, chief economic advisor at Allianz, alluded to the emerging narrative, calling it "a tug-of-war between adoption and regulation."
For Savona, criminals using crypto for money laundering and tax evasion are not the only problem. According to the Consob chairman, the proliferation of cryptocurrencies poses an existential threat to the ability of central banks to facilitate their nations' sovereign monetary policies.
