EU Commission to ensure ‘healthy competition’ in the Metaverse

Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice president of the European Commission, stressed the need to anticipate and plan for changes in technological advancements.

Considering the regulatory struggle to keep up with ever-evolving innovations, Margrethe Vestager, the executive vice president of the European Commission, recommended a headstart into brainstorming implications of technologies such as the Metaverse and ChatGPT.

Vestager highlighted how digital transition and the shift to a digital economy have brought about risk and opportunities for the masses while speaking at the Keystone Conference about competition policy. She believes that legislations lag behind technological advancements, adding:

“We have certainly not been too quick to act – and this can be an important lesson for us in the future.”

While the enforcement and legislative process will continue to stay a step behind tech innovations, Vestager stressed the need to anticipate and plan for such changes. She stated:

“For example, it is already time for us to start asking what healthy competition should look like in the Metaverse, or how something like ChatGPT may change the equation.”

She also revealed that EU Commission would enforce antitrust investigations from May 2023 aimed toward the Facebook marketplace and how Meta uses ads-related data from rivals, among others.

Related: The limitations of the EU’s new cryptocurrency regulations

Feb. 15 marked the launch of the European Blockchain Regulatory Sandbox, which provides a space for regulatory dialog for 20 projects per year through 2026.

With our consulting arm OXYGY, today we announce, together with the @EU_Commission, that applications are now open for the first cohort of the European blockchain regulatory sandbox for blockchain/DLT innovators @EuropeanSandbox:#blockchain #sandbox https://t.co/ZNbjUCTubp pic.twitter.com/PtdS0oBS8p

— Bird & Bird (@twobirds) February 14, 2023

On the other end of the spectrum, European Union lawmakers are in talks about using zero-knowledge proofs for digital IDs. Cointelegraph’s report on the matter highlighted:

“The new eID would allow citizens to identify and authenticate themselves online (via a European digital identity wallet) without having to resort to commercial providers, as is the case today – a practice that raised trust, security and privacy concerns.”

Zero-knowledge proofs have recently been at the center of researchers’ attention as a possible means to ensure regulatory compliance and privacy in digital currencies.