Germany's 2021: New regulations, the digital euro and NFTs on the rise

cointelegraph.com:

An interesting year has come to an end for the crypto industry in Germany. Although blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies have not yet found wide acceptance in the country, more and more domestic institutions and investors are becoming interested in the crypto world thanks to legal clarity.

Here, we’ll look back at the most important developments in the German blockchain and cryptocurrency industries in 2021.

In terms of legal challenges, German legislators have increasingly been taking a lead role and 2021 was no exception.

Since June 2021, the Electronic Securities Act (Gesetz über elektronische Wertpapiere) established digital securities and abolished previously legally mandatory documentations of securities. 

In December 2021, the first e-securities were already issued under the new law in the form of bearer bonds from DekaBank. The fast-growing restaurant chain Beets & Roots from Stuttgart also recently issued participation rights on the blockchain via the Invesdor platform.

Another step to boosting blockchain is the introduction of crypto securities. These are issued and managed on a mostly distributed ledger technology-based securities register and now encompass shares of funds. Now existing as a draft, the new ordinance (Verordnung über Kryptofondsanteile) will come into force in 2022. 

The Fund Location Act (Fondsstandortgesetz) should also be mentioned as a milestone for the acceptance of digital assets. The act, passed in July 2021, enables special funds like pension and insurers, which are designed specifically for the institutional market, to invest up to 20% of their fund volume in crypto assets. Among large German fund providers, for example, Union Investment has already invested significant capital in