On Thursday, the European Parliament gave a strong endorsement to the first-ever regulations for crypto asset markets in the European Union, with a decisive vote of 517 in favor and 38 against.
These regulations cover the issuance and trading of crypto assets, including popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Stefan Berger, the parliamentarian who spearheaded the regulatory process, hailed the rules as a means of giving the EU a competitive edge.
“The European crypto-asset industry has regulatory clarity that does not exist in countries like the U.S.,” Berger said.
The EU member states have already approved the regulations, which will be implemented in mid-2024. The rules mandate that companies engaged in issuing and trading crypto assets must obtain a license from a national regulator, enabling them to operate across the EU’s 27 member states.
Additionally, significant crypto asset service providers will be required to reveal their energy usage levels.
During a debate on the regulations on Wednesday, Mairead McGuinness, the EU’s financial services head, expressed her hope that these regulations could serve as a blueprint for other nations to follow. “I hope that our rules could become a model for other countries,” she said.
Furthermore, Parliament also endorsed new regulations for tracking the transfers of crypto assets, such as bitcoin and electronic money tokens.
The regulations incorporate the “travel rule” used in conventional financial transactions and mandate the transmission and retention of data on the origin and destination of the crypto asset on both ends of the transfer. The objective is to assist in the fight against money laundering.
The tracing rule will also extend to transactions exceeding 1,000 euros originating from a private user’s “self-hosted” wallet or crypto address.