Crypto, Corruption, and Capital Controls: Cross-Country Correlations

Author/Editor:

Marwa Alnasaa ; Nikolay Gueorguiev ; Jiro Honda ; Eslem Imamoglu ; Paolo Mauro ; Keyra Primus ; Dmitriy L Rozhkov

Publication Date:

March 25, 2022

Electronic Access:

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Link to data for this title

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Summary:

Empirical investigation of the factors underlying the growing usage of crypto-assets is in its infancy, owing to data limitations. In this paper, we present a simple cross-country analysis drawing on recently released survey-based data. We explore the correlation of crypto-asset usage with indicators of corruption, capital controls, a history of high inflation, and other factors. We find that crypto-asset usage is significantly and positively associated with higher perception of corruption and more intensive capital controls. Notwithstanding the data limitations, the results support the case for regulating crypto-assets, including know-your-customer approaches, as opposed to taking a laissez-faire stance.

Series:

Working Paper No. 2022/060

Subject:

Frequency:

regular

English

Publication Date:

March 25, 2022

ISBN/ISSN:

9798400204005/1018-5941

Stock No:

WPIEA2022060

Pages:

19

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