'Regulating cryptocurrencies can help boost trust in them'

Regulations for cryptocurrencies can help boost public trust in them as many nations are looking to take advantage of this disruptive innovation, according to experts participating in the WEF summit.

While regulations for cryptocurrencies are still evolving, Sweden is already planning to launch its own digital currency.

The price of bitcoin has an increase more than 12-fold in the past four years and the combined market of crypto-assets is now valued at over USD 500 billion, as per a release issued by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

"I do think (cryptocurrency) needs to be regulated, just like anything I would want to become mainstream should be regulated," said Neil Rimer, General Partner and Co-Founder of Switzerland-based Index Ventures, adding that regulation could be one way of increasing public trust in the experiment.

The release said that not only are nations seeking to regulate the use of cryptocurrency, many are also looking to take advantage of the disruptive innovation associated with it.

Cecilia Skingsley, Deputy Governor of the Swedish Central Bank (Sveriges Riksbank), said Sweden is considering having its own digital currency 'e krona' that would complement traditional notes and coins.

"Cash is going out of fashion very quickly," she was quoted as saying in the release.

Some developing nations have also seen the potential of becoming part of the cryptocurrency movement.

"A lot of smaller economies now –- they start to think if we just make our regulation a little bit more crypto-friendly we can attract a lot of investment and a lot of talent," said Jennifer Zhu Scott, Principal at Radian Partners, Hong Kong SAR.

According to the release, the staying power and pricing of bitcoin suggest that crypto-assets would continue to have a disruptive impact on global finance but they raise more questions than answers about what shape that disruption would take.