Bitcoin Barely Rates Mention Among Top Risks to Financial System

(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. government’s chief watchdog for financial system threats put out its annual list of potential nightmares, and the burgeoning market for digital currencies such as bitcoin didn’t rate much more than a few lines in the 152-page report.

While big names in global finance such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon have publicly warned that cryptocurrencies are doomed to collapse, the Financial Stability Oversight Board isn’t concerned yet. The panel said digital currency’s “current impact on financial stability is likely very limited.”

“Virtual currencies are only used by a very small number of consumers,” the group said in its report. FSOC gives a bit more credit to the potentially “much broader applications” of the so-called distributed ledger technology underpinning the innovations. And it notes that this digital wave also presents a regulatory challenge, because the storage of data is decentralized, rather than being in one spot that governments can watch.

We’ll keep an eye on all of this, is basically what they’re saying.

One thing that may trouble those who have watched the bitcoin market soar in recent weeks and who fear its potential collapse: The council’s report issued Thursday based some of its views on a survey of consumer behavior. From 2015.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jesse Hamilton in Washington at jhamilton33@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Gregory Mott

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