©Reuters. Moody’s warns that cryptocurrencies could fragment the payment system
New York, May 18 (.).- The rating agency Moody’s warned this Wednesday that the adoption of cryptocurrencies could lead to excessive fragmentation of the payment system and weaken financial stability, especially in countries with weaker macroeconomic frameworks.
The Investment Service of this agency assured that cryptocurrencies are being used more and more by countries with lower sovereign debt ratings, since they can facilitate household transactions and make them faster, more convenient and with lower costs.
In addition, Moody’s points out that cryptocurrencies facilitate inclusion and benefit countries where a large part of the population lacks banking infrastructure, especially with the expansion of the use of mobile telephony and the greater increase in digitization.
However, it warns that “this growing adoption of digital assets also puts macroeconomic stability at risk”
“The risks associated with the adoption of cryptocurrencies could increase macroeconomic instability for sovereign countries with weaker macroeconomic frameworks, particularly where cryptocurrencies can be used to evade capital controls, weakening the effectiveness of policies,” Moody’s vice president said. David Rogovic, quoted in a statement.
Among the risks he cited are operational ones, such as fraud, the reduction of government control in the surveillance of the financial system, the central bank’s less control over the money supply or the greater difficulty of applying countercyclical monetary policies in times of crisis.
Moody’s notes that remittances represent another area where cryptocurrency can be an alternative to traditional remittance currencies, particularly in remittance flows from less developed markets, as they offer the potential to send remittances faster and reduce the costs.