New Zealand’s Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs calls for policies to support the development of the crypto industry

PANews reported on April 10 that according to Cointelegraph, New Zealand’s department responsible for formulating national economic strategies recently proposed that it should adopt a more inclusive attitude towards cryptocurrency innovation, aiming to promote the vigorous development of the country’s digital asset industry. New Zealand Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Andrew Bayly emphasized that it is urgent to reform the current conservative attitude towards digital assets and blockchain technology. The government should vigorously support the growth of the encryption industry and introduce corresponding policies to manage potential risks.

The response from Bayly's office also shows that the current wait-and-see attitude may cause New Zealand to miss the huge opportunities brought by the development of the digital asset industry. To this end, the department's consultants have made a series of recommendations, including developing incentive policies and regulations, strengthening cooperation between government and industry, and addressing skills shortages through immigration policy. Among them, developing training and educational resources, implementing tax incentives, improving anti-money laundering provisions, and continuing to design central bank digital currencies are all included in the list of actions to be more friendly to cryptocurrencies.

Bayly further pointed out that these recommendations are long-term in nature and called for the establishment of a globally coordinated regulatory and supervisory framework to regulate the development of digital and encrypted assets. However, this stance differs from that of RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr. Orr believes that central bank digital currencies are not a true replacement for legal tender and their stability is questionable. He made it clear that cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are not a means of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account, but are more like speculative currencies and are essentially different from central bank cash.