The European Commission published its proposal for a regulation on crypto-asset markets on Thursday. With this, the EU wants to strictly regulate the use of stablecoins such as Facebook's Libra.
The proposed crypto-asset markets regulation states that parties offering 'crypto-assets with a significant' asset-backed 'component, or stablecoins, must meet strict requirements in terms of capital, investor rights and supervision. The European Commission, like the Nederlandsche Bank, for example, does not refer to cryptocurrency because the institutions do not see it as currency, but as 'a digital representation of values ??or rights that can be stored and traded electronically'.
The regulation aims to provide legal clarity and legal certainty for the European market to parties who issue and offer crypto assets. Among other things, with a single license, they can offer their services throughout the EU, which the European Commission calls passporting. The Commission also intends to allow experiments in a controlled environment for crypto asset trading and transaction settlement. By temporarily deviating from existing rules, regulators can gain experience with blockchain techniques and look at the impact on investor protection, market integrity and financial stability. The proposal still has to be approved by the governments of the Member States and the European Parliament before it becomes final. That will take at least a year.
