IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath bats for global standards for regulating cryptocurrencies

"We (IMF) think it is really not appropriate to make any of these cryptocurrencies legal tender that would be a simple no-no," Gopinath said in an interview with CNBC.

She asserted that global standards for regulations for cryptocurrency were required.

"If you are going to go into payment systems, you have to make sure you regulate them well ... we should just make sure this problem doesn't get ahead of the regulatory environment that needs to be put in place," she added.

Gopinath - IMF's first deputy managing director-designate -  noted that an outright ban may be difficult to implement from a practical point of view and called on the countries to move quickly.

"A lot of exchanges are offshore and not subject to the regulation (of a country)... We need a global compact as no individual country can do it...we need it urgently," she at a lecture organised by think-tank National Council for Applied Economic Research (NCAER), reported Times of India.

There was a need to regulate crypto assets and based on the stand taken by each country regulations should be developed that impose rules similar to those governing investments or payments with capital buffers and other norms for financial institutions investing in the instrument.

Gopinath's comment comes at a time when the Indian government is all set to bring a bill on regulating cryptocurrency in India in the winter session of the Parliament.

 The new laws may not allow the use of cryptocurrencies to settle transactions or make payments but may allow people to hold them as assets like shares, gold, or bonds, according to reports.