by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack
NYC, July 14 – When the International Monetary Fund held its embargoed media briefing on July 13, 2023, Inner City Press asked spokesperson Julie Kozack about Kenya - the deadly protests and IMF program, and President William Ruto's critique of the IMF - and about crypto and DAOs in the Marshall Islands and elsewhere. Video here. Transcript here:
Inner City Press: I know that the IMF has been critical of DOAs, decentralized autonomous organizations in the Marshall Islands, maybe elsewhere. If you have been saying anything about the end of the IMF’s thinking on that aspect of crypto?
On July 14 this, attributed to the IMF Marshall Islands Mission Chief Narayanan Raman:
Our views on the Sovereign Currency Act, or SOV, have not changed and we continue to advise that the repeal of the SOV Act be completed as expeditiously as possible. Indeed, the Fund’s official view is that privately issued crypto assets should not be given legal tender status in any of our member countries.
On Decentralized Autonomous Organizations Act, or DAO, this is a new and emerging area with only a handful of jurisdictions allowing their registration. To ensure there is adequate oversight over these entities, regulators need to have significant capacity, both legal and technological, which is challenging for all jurisdictions. We have recommended that the Marshallese authorities impose a moratorium on the registration of new DAOs until an adequate oversight framework can be developed, especially as this could impact the Marshall Islands’ financial integrity and put its correspondent banking relationships at risk."
On Kenya, IMF Spokesperson Kozack expressed concern about the protests; she said Kenya would be taken up by the IMF Board next week. In response to the Ruto question, she ticked off IMF actions from Ukraine to climate, transcript here
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