2022-03-22-Financial_Stability_Insititute-加密资产的金融风险评估（FSB）_30页_569kb

Summary of Assessment of Risks to Financial Stability from Crypto-assets

Core Content

The Financial Stability Board (FSB) has issued a report assessing the risks to global financial stability posed by crypto-assets, including unbacked crypto-assets, stablecoins, and decentralised finance (DeFi) platforms. The report outlines the evolving nature of the crypto-asset market, its growing integration with traditional financial systems, and the associated vulnerabilities that could impact financial stability.

Main Points

• Rapid Growth and Interconnectedness: The crypto-asset market has grown significantly, reaching a market capitalisation of $2.6 trillion in 2021, although it still represents a small portion of the global financial system. The increasing interconnectedness with traditional financial institutions and markets raises concerns about potential spillovers.

• Vulnerabilities in Unbacked Crypto-assets:

  • Financial Sector Exposures: Crypto-assets are increasingly used by financial institutions, but many trading platforms operate outside regulatory oversight, leading to limited transparency and potential systemic risk.
  • Wealth Effects: The rise in retail ownership and the concentration of holdings among a few investors can lead to significant wealth effects, especially during price volatility.
  • Confidence Effects: Low investor understanding and lack of protections or recovery mechanisms could lead to sudden loss of confidence, especially if an operational incident or regulatory action occurs.
  • Use in Payments and Settlement: While crypto-assets are not yet widely used for mainstream payments due to instability and performance issues, some payment service providers are exploring their use, particularly stablecoins.

• Stablecoins:

  • Financial Sector Exposures: Stablecoins are used as a bridge between fiat currencies and crypto-assets. Their growing use may increase systemic risk, especially if they fail.
  • Wealth Effects: The widespread use of stablecoins could have a significant impact on wealth and asset values.
  • Confidence Effects: A failure of a major stablecoin could disrupt liquidity in the broader crypto-asset ecosystem and potentially spill over into traditional financial markets.
  • Use in Payments and Settlement: Stablecoins are being explored for cross-border payments and are central to DeFi applications.
  • Global Stablecoins: The FSB is monitoring the potential risks of global stablecoins, which could have broader implications for financial stability.

• DeFi and Trading Platforms:

  • DeFi is a rapidly growing sector that leverages both unbacked crypto-assets and stablecoins, increasing the complexity and interconnectivity of the market.
  • A small number of trading platforms dominate the market, often operating outside regulatory frameworks, which increases the risk of systemic failures and lack of transparency.

• Data Gaps:

  • The FSB identifies significant data gaps that hinder the assessment of financial stability risks from crypto-assets. These include the lack of reporting requirements and regulatory oversight for many crypto-asset platforms and services.
  • The report calls for better data collection and metrics to monitor the evolving risks.

Key Risks and Concerns

• Market Volatility: High volatility in crypto-asset prices can lead to sudden losses and affect investor confidence.
• Leverage and Liquidity Risks: High leverage in some crypto-asset derivatives and the potential for liquidity mismatches in stablecoins pose significant risks.
• Operational and Technological Fragility: The lack of operational resilience and regulatory compliance among some crypto-asset platforms could lead to disruptions.
• Environmental Impact: Energy-intensive consensus mechanisms, such as Proof-of-Work (PoW), contribute to climate-related financial risks.
• Regulatory and Supervisory Challenges: The cross-border and cross-sectoral nature of crypto-assets creates regulatory fragmentation and gaps, complicating oversight and coordination.

Conclusion and Next Steps

• The FSB will continue to monitor developments in crypto-asset markets using its 2018 framework.
• In 2022, the FSB will explore the regulatory and supervisory implications of unbacked crypto-assets and stablecoins.
• The report highlights the need for enhanced regulatory frameworks, better data collection, and increased transparency to mitigate risks to financial stability.

Annexes

• Annex 1: Provides an overview of available metrics and data gaps for assessing financial stability risks from crypto-assets.
• Annex 2: Includes a glossary of terms related to crypto-assets, aligned with FSB and other international standards, though some terms may not be fully applicable due to the market's rapid evolution.

Key Statistics

• Crypto-asset market capitalisation grew by 3.5 times in 2021 to $2.6 trillion.
• Bitcoin's three-month realized volatility was 60% in 2021, compared to 13% for gold and 16% for the S&P 500.
• The top 1,000 investors hold about 3 million bitcoins, or 16% of the total in circulation.
• The use of crypto-assets as a means of payment is still limited, but some jurisdictions, like El Salvador, have adopted them as legal tender.
• PoW-based crypto-assets account for around 80% of the total market capitalisation, despite some moving towards PoS mechanisms.

References

• The report references various studies and announcements, including those from the FSB, SEC, and other financial authorities, highlighting the evolving nature of the crypto-asset market and its implications for financial stability.