Germany and France will jointly push for global Bitcoin (TIKER: BTC.EXANTE) regulation during the next summit of the G20 in Argentina. The Finance Ministers of the two countries revealed the news at a joint press conference in Paris, Reuters reported.
"We have the same concerns and we share the goal of regulating Bitcoin," French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
“We will have a joint Franco-German analysis of the risks linked to Bitcoin, regulation proposals and these will be submitted as a joint proposal to our G20 counterparts at the G20 summit in Argentina in March,” he added.
Le Maire has tasked a former deputy governor of the Bank of France to come up with proposals.
For his part, Germany’s finance minister Peter Altmaier said "we have a responsibility to our citizens to explain the risks and reduce the risks by regulations which are needed."
The announcement comes amid a sharp drop in the value of Bitcoin The world’s biggest and best-known cryptocurrency has fallen to half its record peak of almost $20,000 in recent days on fears that regulators could seek to curb speculation.