The Netherlands should regulate crypto instead of banning it, says finance minister

Dutch finance minister Wopke Hoekstra is confident that supervision is more effective than banning crypto outright.

A cryptocurrency ban is not the right solution for the Netherlands, the country’s finance minister reportedly said after a local official called for a total ban on crypto.

The Netherlands should regulate the cryptocurrency market instead of prohibiting its citizens from using crypto entirely, Dutch minister of finance Wopke Hoekstra stated, according to a Friday report by local news agency NU.nl.

The official still admitted to certain risks associated with the crypto market, reportedly saying that he understood the concerns raised by director Dutch Bureau for Economic Analysis, Pieter Hasekamp. The minister stressed that it’s crucial to ensure proper rules for virtual asset service providers in order to mitigate the risks around issues such as money laundering.

“My observation is now that supervision is more effective than a total ban in the Netherlands,” Hoekstra stated, reportedly noting that it’s important to oversee the crypto market at the European level.

Hoekstra also mentioned that he already issued a warning regarding cryptocurrency-related risks back in 2017, stressing that crypto investors should realize that their bets on crypto are “entirely at their own expense and risk.”

“That’s going very well now, but we’ve also seen big dips and peaks along the way,” Hoekstra said in November 2017, just a few weeks before Bitcoin (BTC) hit $20,000 for the first time in history in December.

Related: Bitstamp imposes KYC for Dutch traders withdrawing to external wallets

As previously reported, Hasekamp argued in a June 11 article that the Dutch government must enforce an immediate total ban on mining, trading and holding of Bitcoin. He cited the common anti-crypto arguments, claiming that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are unable to fulfill any of the three functions of money as a unit of account, means of payment or store of value.

Some of the world’s biggest Bitcoin critics like the award-winning economist Nouriel Roubini have already admitted that Bitcoin could serve as a store of value, which is a major function of money alongside a unit of account and a medium of exchange.