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The crypto market spent years operating under the rules of the “Wild West.” Over time, different countries began trying to bring order to the industry, but a common regulatory framework never emerged. Now the G20 is trying to coordinate approaches to digital assets. But getting the entire world to agree may prove much harder than simply bringing crypto chaos under control.
G20 opens the door to cryptocurrencies
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors met in Asheville, North Carolina, on August 31 and September 1. Following the two-day meeting, they outlined the role of digital assets in the financial agenda. The G20 statement said digital assets can support economic growth, while the private sector should play a key role in developing new financial technologies.
🚨 NOW: G20 finance chiefs formally recognize digital assets' role in economic growth, pledging clearer regulatory pathways and improved cross-border payment systems. pic.twitter.com/qH4E0oFAz4
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) September 2, 2026
Participants agreed to develop rules that would both protect financial stability and create “clear pathways” for digital-asset innovation. The G20 also highlighted the cross-border nature of the crypto market.
Stablecoins received particular attention. The G20 is awaiting a new analysis from the Financial Stability Board (FSB) on how global stablecoins affect cross-border activity and what challenges exist around collecting data on them.
However, no new global rules were adopted at the meeting. The document is a G20 Chair’s Statement and does not itself change national laws. It was supported by all members present except China, although Beijing’s objections concerned four other sections covering the global economy, trade imbalances and sovereign debt. The paragraph on digital assets was not among them.
How chaos pushed governments to intervene
During its early years, the crypto market operated with almost no traditional financial oversight. Anyone could launch a token without a license, audit or disclosure of information about its developers. This was particularly evident during the ICO boom of 2017–2018, when projects raised money directly from investors by promising to build new blockchains, exchanges and payment systems. Some disappeared with the funds they had raised, while others were designed as scams from the beginning.
It’s the Wild Wild West in crypto saddle up cowboys and cowgirls 🤠
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) January 24, 2022
The rise of DeFi only changed the form of the problem. According to Chainalysis, scammers received more than $7.7 billion from <a href="https://xpertsstudio.com/new-cryptocurrency-pepeto-steals-the-show-as-sec-drops-first-crypto-rule-and-presale-hits-10-9-million/” title=”New Cryptocurrency Pepeto Steals the Show as SEC Drops First Crypto Rule and Presale Hits $10.9 Million”>cryptocurrency holders in 2021. Rug pulls — schemes in which developers attract investors, withdraw liquidity and disappear — accounted for more than $2.8 billion. AnubisDAO, for example, raised almost $60 million in October 2021 despite having no proper website and developers operating under pseudonyms. Roughly 20 hours after launch, the funds disappeared from the liquidity pool.
Some countries began introducing rules even before the biggest crypto scandals. In Japan, cryptocurrency exchanges were required to register with the Financial Services Agency starting on April 1, 2017. By the end of September that year, the first 11 companies had received approval. The regulator required platforms to follow customer protection and anti-money laundering rules.
Other jurisdictions later began developing their own systems. In 2022, Dubai adopted a separate law on virtual assets and created a dedicated regulator, VARA. Companies working with digital assets were required to obtain authorization, while investor protection and combating illegal practices were explicitly listed among the regulator’s responsibilities. At the same time, the U.S., European Union, UK, Singapore and other markets developed their own rules, each with different requirements for exchanges, tokens, reserves and customer services.
Global regulators search for common ground
Attempts to agree on common rules began long before the latest G20 meeting. Cryptocurrencies are regularly discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos. In January 2025, for example, a session titled Crypto at a Crossroads brought together Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, Franklin Templeton CEO Jennifer Johnson, Stellar CEO Denelle Dixon and South African Reserve Bank Governor Lesetja Kganyago. One of the main topics was what rules the crypto industry needs and how regulation can be made clearer for businesses.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 24, 2025
But actual international frameworks began emerging outside Davos. In July 2023, the Financial Stability Board, which was tasked by the G20 with coordinating this work, presented a global regulatory framework for crypto assets. It included nine recommendations for the crypto market and a separate set of 10 recommendations for global stablecoins. The requirements covered the protection of customer assets, management of conflicts of interest, cooperation between regulators in different countries and the right of stablecoin holders to redeem their tokens.
Two months later, the International Monetary Fund joined the effort. In September 2023, the IMF and FSB, at the request of India during its G20 presidency, prepared a joint paper on crypto assets. The organizations proposed applying the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation” and establishing a minimum set of requirements that countries could implement in their own laws. The document covered crypto exchanges, token issuers, stablecoins and DeFi.
MiCA struggles to keep up with the market
Europe’s MiCA regulation provides a clear example of how difficult unified regulation can be. The European Commission first proposed it in September 2020, the regulation was adopted in May 2023, stablecoin rules took effect in June 2024, and requirements for other market participants followed in December that year. However, the transition period did not end until July 1, 2026. Almost six years passed between the first proposal and the market’s final transition to the new rules.
During that time, the industry itself changed. New staking models emerged, tokenization of real-world assets and DeFi expanded rapidly, and global stablecoins became much more important in payments. By May 2026, the European Commission had already launched a formal review of MiCA to determine whether the regulation remained relevant given changes in the market.
The strict transition to MiCA pushed a significant number of companies out of the new licensing regime. By the end of the transition period, 244 crypto-asset service providers had received authorization, compared with more than 3,000 companies that had previously operated in Europe under national regimes. Still, MiCA-licensed exchanges already accounted for about 83% of European trading volume. One of the largest exceptions was Binance: the exchange failed to secure a license in time, withdrew its application in Greece and was forced to suspend some services for EU customers.
Some businesses, meanwhile, began looking beyond Europe. Dubai-based law firm NeosLegal said in June that it was receiving more than 120 inquiries per week from entrepreneurs interested in setting up businesses in the UAE, with around half of those inquiries coming from Europe. The reasons cited included the cost of MiCA compliance, bureaucracy and the speed of obtaining regulatory approvals.
One global law or common principles?
Creating a single law for the entire crypto market is unlikely. Countries differ too much in their interests and regulatory approaches: some favor strict supervision, while others try to attract crypto companies with more flexible rules. MiCA shows that even creating a common framework for several dozen countries can take years and still fail to cover every new product and business model.
A more realistic scenario is a shared set of basic requirements. These could include rules for safeguarding customer funds, disclosure, stablecoin reserves, anti-money laundering controls and data sharing between regulators. The G20, FSB and IMF are already moving in this direction. Global crypto regulation is therefore more likely to take the form of common standards layered on top of national rules rather than a single law applied everywhere.
This material may contain third-party opinions, none of the data and information on this webpage constitutes investment advice according to our Disclaimer. While we adhere to strict Editorial Integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners.
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