Eu Financial News

Check out the companies making headlines in midday trading.

A million-dollar question in crypto might be whether tokens can be considered securities in the United States, with some crypto companies staking a lot of money on it. 

Republican leader at the US Securities and Exchange Commission said Europe’s legislation to regulate cryptocurrency could be a model as the country grapples with how to write rules for the industry.

hose" of differing regulatory approaches to cryptoassets lack the global consensus needed to attract established investors that would create a maturer market, a conference was told on Wednesday. The European Union has finalised the world's first comprehensive rules for cryptoasset markets, known as MiCA, but others like Britain and the United States are further behind. Apart from compliance with rules to stop money laundering and terrorist financing, crypto firms are largely unregulated in many parts of the world. «It's really commendable that Europe was able to get that done so quickly,» Hester Peirce, a commissioner at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, told a Financial Times conference.

In 2018, the world was shocked to learn that British political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica had harvested the personal data of at least 50 million Facebook users without their consent and used it to influence elections in the United States and abroad.

Countries around the world are beginning to grapple with the pervasiveness of artificial intelligence (AI). While some look to the emerging technology with concern, others like Romania are embracing it. 

A top Russian politician says domestic firms are “already” doing business overseas in crypto – and says they think they are within their legal rights to do so.

The chair of the European Banking Authority (EBA), José Manuel Campa, has argued that central banks should veto stablecoins if they have fears the private, permissionless blockchains and crypto projects could threaten monetary policy.

The chair of the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and six subcommittee chairs have sent a letter to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Secretary Vanessa Countryman voicing their concerns over the agency’s proposed advisory clients custody rule. They join a string of crypto industry figures in expressing their objections.

Major crypto exchange Binance has criticized crypto regulations in the US, calling on the country to follow in Europe’s footsteps and provide clearer rules.

Lawmakers in the European Union have forwarded legislation concerning artificial intelligence (AI) to the next phase after concluding a vote from two lawmakers’ committees.

The European Union has become the first major jurisdiction to pass a comprehensive crypto law, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, which aims to provide legal certainty for the crypto industry and investors by establishing standard regulations and harmonized rules at the EU level. 

Some members of the United States House of Representatives’ Financial Services and Agriculture Committees pointed to crypto asset frameworks being employed outside the country when discussing regulatory gaps at home.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.__________

Unbacked cryptocurrencies are more like a "Ponzi scheme" than an investment, argued Central Bank of Ireland Governor Gabriel Makhlouf - but adding that "crypto is not going away very soon."

The first product out of the Unstoppable Finance stable was the crypto self-custodial wallet 'Ultimate', launched in 2022 on the back of a €12.2 million funding round.Unstoppable says its regulated DeFi bank will issue a fiat-backed stablecoin following the guidance of the EU’s new Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation, alongside a broad suite of banking and financial services, both on traditional and on DeFi rails. The stablecoin will be pegged one-to-one against the euro and backed by reserves held at the European Central Bank.CTO Grosskopf has past form in launching a bank as a previous co-founder and CT of Solarisbank.

The former chief executive of the trade body representing the UK’s asset management sector has urged the government to “resist the pressures of any lobbying” to reverse EU rules introduced five years ago that led to an unbundling of investment research.

MiCA, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, is a significant step towards establishing a comprehensive regulatory framework for crypto-assets in the European Union (EU). This regulatory framework is seen as a politically acceptable and workable compromise that builds on existing regulatory frameworks while offering certainty to entrepreneurs and preventing knee-jerk reactions from policymakers. One of the key aspects of MiCA is the introduction of a tailored license for crypto-asset services and stablecoin issuers that can be passported across all 27 EU member states, covering a market of 450 million people. This is expected to streamline regulatory processes and foster cross-border activities in the crypto industry. MiCA distinguishes between different types of cryptoassets and provides regulatory requirements specific to each category. This approach recognizes the diversity of cryptoassets and their different use cases, and tailors regulatory requirements accordingly. By taking a nuanced approach to different types of cryptoassets, MiCA aims to provide effective regulation that is appropriate for each category. MiCA includes rules for stablecoin issuers that aim to ensure consumer confidence by requiring proper reserves and the redeemability of tokens. This is expected to enhance the reputation and acceptance of stablecoins as a form of digital currency.

Almost 400 Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASPS) have voluntarily shut down or had their authorizations revoked in Estonia following the government’s recently enhanced Terrorist Financing Prevention and anti-money laundering laws (AML) that came into effect in March.

Worldcoin, a project to identify humans and distinguish them from artificial intelligence, has launched a gas-free crypto wallet for verified humans, according to a May 8 announcement. 

Liechtenstein Prime Minister Daniel Risch announced plans to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as payment for government services. As reported in local news, the micro-European nation continues to embrace blockchain technologies.