Sale Lilly and Scott W. Harold, officials of the American policy think tank Rand Corporation have urged the US and Japan to include cryptocurrency in their bilateral digital trade pact.
Rand Corporation experts presented arguments in support of their demand for crypto to be included in the digital trade agreement in an opinion article published in the Nikkei Asia on Wednesday.
The fact that both countries are home to two of the world’s major crypto markets, according to the article, makes the omission of cryptocurrency from the trade deal “rather odd.”
Crypto and blockchain technology are not included in the 2019 US-Japan Digital Trade Agreement. However, some elements of the agreement may encompass non-financial components of the unique technology, according to the publication.
Analysts at the policy think tank stated that banning bitcoin and other blockchain-based financial applications will impose unnecessary tariffs on enterprises in the market.
As a result, the researchers offered two options: negotiating a separate cryptocurrency agreement or expanding the scope of the 2019 accord to include digital currencies and blockchain technology.
The researchers believe that implementing either proposal would set a precedent for the widespread adoption of crypto and blockchain technology in international trade, particularly in the digital trading space.
According to figures from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the digital economy in the United States expanded to $2.1 trillion in 2019, accounting for about 10% of the country’s GDP.
For industry stakeholders, the use of crypto, digital currencies, and blockchain technology in international trade is becoming a focal point.
In March, Citigroup, a leading American investment bank, predicted that Bitcoin (BTC) will reach a “tipping point” in international trading.
The introduction of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), particularly regional CBDCs, has sparked interest in the use of digital currencies in cross-border trading.