IMF says governments could set up their own cryptocurrencies

Christine Lagarde praises rebel technology as 'safe, cheap, and potentially semi-anonymous'

Governments should consider offering their own cryptocurrencies to prevent the systems becoming havens for fraudsters and money launderers, Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund said referring to the fast-growing fintech industry.

Lagarde said central banks had to work quickly to establish digital cash for burgeoning networks of private financial transactions or risk their mushrooming into trading networks that were inherently unstable.

Related: Time to regulate bitcoin, says Treasury committee report