Despite Crime Concerns, Laos Authorizes Cryptocurrency Trial

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From The Diplomat

The government of Laos has authorized six companies to trial mining and trading cryptocurrencies, the Laotian Times reported yesterday, despite its stated concerns that such currencies could be used to facilitate illegal activity.

According to a report in the Laotian Times, the trial will proceed while a host of ministries work with the Bank of Laos and the state power supply company Electricite du Laos (presumably because of the immense power required to mine cryptocurrencies) to research and decide upon regulations governing the use of these pseudo-currencies in Laos. The findings of the research and consultation between ministries and relevant organizations will then be discussed at a meeting this week.

With prices based on nothing beyond speculation on their future value, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin are known for being highly volatile. It is therefore hard to see how opening Laos’ $18 billion to the borderless and inflammable crypto markets will bring any benefit to the country’s population, especially given the host of other pressing problems facing the country.

The anonymity of cryptocurrencies – mooted as a major advantage by their boosters – have also unsurprisingly led them to be associated with all manner of criminal activity, from online scams to drug trafficking operations. This suggests that at best, Bitcoin and its counterparts have been vastly oversold. At worst, they are an environmental hazard and a giant fraud.

For these reasons, the Chinese government has recently launched a fierce crackdown on the technology, on the reasonable grounds that its lurching price fluctuations posed a threat to the nation’s financial stability. It has banned crypto mining operations and ordering major banks not to do business with crypto companies. In June, the State Council’s Financial Stability and Development Committee stated that it would “resolutely prevent the transmission of individual risks to the wider society.”

Continues at

https://thediplomat.com/2021/09/despite-crime-concerns-laos-authorizes-cryptocurrency-trial/