The unintended consequences of the regulation of cryptocurrencies
研究了金融行动特别工作组（FATF）最新加密货币监管指引可能产生的意外后果，如促使投资者转向不受监管的平台，或导致行业分裂为合规与不合规两类交易场所。
Abstract This paper investigates whether the application of the latest guidance of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for regulating cryptocurrencies may engender unintended consequences at odds with the initial purposes of transparency and technology neutrality. For instance, we will ask whether regulation strengthening may incite a category of investors to flight to unregulated and non-compliant decentralised exchange platforms to stay under the radar of regulators. Furthermore, we ask whether regulation may lead to a two-tier industry, fragmented between compliant trading venues that attract mainstream users and non-compliant trading venues that attract privacy-centric users. We argue that somewhat paradoxically, regulation may push part of the crypto-industry to the ‘dark side’ of financial innovation and drives privacy-centric investors out of the scope of regulators.