The cryptocurrency market is double the size of the sub-prime debt market in the U.S. on the eve of the financial crisis—and it poses a threat unless urgently regulated, according to the Bank of England (BOE).

Crypto assets are now worth $2.3 trillion, about 200 percent more than at the start of the year. While that's still a small portion of the $250 trillion global financial system, it's about twice the size of the $1.2 trillion sub-prime real estate debt market in 2008.

"You don't have to account for a large proportion of the financial sector to trigger financial stability problems," BOE Deputy Governor Jon Cunliffe said in a speech on Wednesday. "When something in the financial system is growing very fast, and growing in largely unregulated space, financial stability authorities have to sit up and take notice."

Continue Reading for Free

Register and gain access to:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world cas studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.