Members of the Commonwealth of Nations should regulate bitcoin in one way or another. This is the recommendation of the Virtual Working Group that convened last weekend in London.

According to the press release, the members of the group met in Commonwealth Secretariat and  to the presentations of digital currency companies and associations. Among notable participants, one can list UK Digital Currency Association, Kenyan remittance service BitPesa and Ripple Labs.

At the end of the meeting, members of Virtual working group put forward 9 conclusions and 3 outcomes. Many conclusions deal with the regulation of the digital currency.

“Member States should consider the applicability of their existing legal frameworks to virtual currencies and where appropriate they should consider adapting them or enacting new legislation to regulate virtual currencies; Legal frameworks should address risks and vulnerabilities, be technologically neutral and avoid stifling innovation”

Thus, Virtual Working Group recommended member states to regulate bitcoin in a convenient way. It also supported the creation of special database on bitcoin regulation.

“The Commonwealth Secretariat should create a digital repository of best practice and model regulations as part of an online community to assist Member States in developing policy; and Relevant technical terms should be clearly defined in the guidance to be made available to Member States”

The outcomes of the meeting are much more blurred. The Virtual Working Group of the Commonwealth has on executive power – so it decided to prepare the special report on digital currencies in one month time and to convene again in early 2016.

The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organization of 53 member states that in the past constituted the British Empire. It works on the basis on the intergovernmental consensus and works with the help of many non-governmental organizations.

Daria Petushkova