According to CoinDesk: A consortium of Central Banks has announced a groundbreaking project named 'Project Atlas'. The proof-of-concept, dealing with the mapping of significant cryptocurrency transfers, has been unveiled by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in conjunction with the German and Dutch central banks. The project could potentially underpin future regulations of crypto market players.
BIS, in a recent study, recognizes the economically substantial nature of crypto exchange flows and the potential for significant off-chain international flows between crypto exchanges. To start with, the platform has focused on transactions within the Bitcoin network.
Cecilia Skingsley, the head of BIS Innovation Hub, stated in a press release, "We are developing a new and important public good for central banks globally. Data on cross-border flows are relevant for areas like payments and macroeconomic analysis."
Project Atlas is intended to be a tool for the central banks to gain a deeper understanding of these frequently inscrutable markets. The need for such a platform has been underlined by recent happenings, like the collapse of the FTX exchange, which exposed the risks posed by unregulated parties in such opaque markets.
The project also brings attention to potential malpractices in the cryptocurrency world. As an example, the report cites wash trading, an illegitimate activity involving the purchase and sale of the same asset by the same traders to manipulate the markets. According to BIS, up to 70% of activity on some exchanges could be wash trading.
As a measure to assure investors, some major centralized exchanges, including Binance, are going the 'Proof of Reserves' route by publishing details of their controlled wallets, which could pioneer novel approaches to data-driven supervision in the future, as per BIS.
The unveiling of Project Atlas marks a concerted move towards utilizing data science for more robust governance in the Cryptocurrency world.
