The unintended consequences of the regulation of cryptocurrencies

Abstract

Abstract This paper investigates whether the application of the latest guidance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for regulating cryptocurrencies may engender unintended consequences at odds with the initial purposes of transparency and technology neutrality. For instance, we will ask whether regulation strengthening may incite a category of investors to flight to unregulated and non-compliant decentralised exchange platforms to stay under the radar of regulators. Furthermore, we ask whether regulation may lead to a two-tier industry, fragmented between compliant trading venues that attract mainstream users and non-compliant trading venues that attract privacy-centric users. We argue that somewhat paradoxically, regulation may push part of the crypto-industry to the ‘dark side’ of financial innovation and drives privacy-centric investors out of the scope of regulators.