G20 finance ministers and central bank governors have backed clearer regulatory pathways for digital assets, linking support for innovation and economic growth with stronger safeguards for financial stability.
The position was set out at the G20 meeting in Asheville, North Carolina, held from 31 August to 1 September. Digital assets were listed among the priorities of the United States presidency of the G20 for 2026, alongside sovereign debt, financial literacy and global imbalances.
The statement gives digital assets a more prominent role in the G20’s wider plans for financial modernisation. However, its commitments are political rather than legally binding, meaning individual countries will still determine how the principles are applied through national regulation.
G20 officials said a clearer international approach could reduce the fragmented rules currently facing the sector. Different requirements for similar digital-asset activities can increase compliance costs, complicate supervision and create opportunities for businesses to seek out less demanding jurisdictions.
The Financial Stability Board’s October 2025 review found that countries had made progress in regulating crypto assets, but that work on global stablecoin arrangements had developed more slowly. It warned that inconsistent implementation could encourage regulatory arbitrage, make cross-border oversight more difficult and hinder the creation of a resilient digital-asset ecosystem.
Global stablecoins are expected to be a particular focus of future international scrutiny as their use grows in trading, settlement and payments. The G20 expects a Financial Stability Board summary covering their cross-border effects, the data available to regulators and the remaining gaps in information about such arrangements.
Pablo Hernandez de Cos, general manager of the Bank for International Settlements, estimated that the global stablecoin market was worth about $315bn in early April. He warned that differences between national regulatory systems could lead to serious fragmentation or damaging regulatory arbitrage.
Stablecoins are digital assets intended to maintain a stable value by tracking another asset, most commonly the US dollar.
Alongside calls for closer oversight, the G20 backed longer operating hours for large-value payment systems, the adoption of the harmonised ISO 20022 data model, and easier cross-border transfers of financial-services data where security and legal requirements allow.
Focus on enforcement
The growth-focused language was accompanied by demands for more effective action against money laundering across virtual-asset markets.
A July assessment by the Financial Action Task Force found that 34% of the 149 jurisdictions it reviewed were largely compliant with Recommendation 15, the international standard covering virtual assets and virtual-asset service providers. A further 43% were partially compliant, while 22% were non-compliant. Only one jurisdiction had achieved full compliance.
The G20 called on the FATF to give priority to jurisdictions with substantial virtual-asset activity and to ensure that existing standards are properly implemented. Earlier FATF work had highlighted licensing, registration, supervision, the Travel Rule and international co-operation as key requirements.
The Asheville statement also identified scam compounds, the use of artificial intelligence by fraudsters and faster information-sharing between public authorities and private-sector organisations as enforcement priorities.
Those issues are expected to feature ahead of the FATF’s planned Learning and Development Forum in Dallas later this year.
The Chair’s Statement said G20 members wanted to build policy consensus on crypto assets to support more effective global regulation.
“After the crypto meltdown…”
The statement’s wider digital-asset agenda follows a November 2025 declaration that called for co-ordinated oversight of crypto assets, stablecoins and decentralised finance. That declaration also stressed responsible innovation and stronger action against illicit finance.
The latest position places digital assets more directly within the G20’s economic-growth and private-sector development agenda, while maintaining that innovation must operate alongside safeguards designed to protect financial stability.
