EU Commissioner urges lawmakers to hurry up with crypto regulations

During her visit to the United States, the official highlighted the importance of a truly global regulatory effort.

While the European Union proceeds with smoothly passing its landmark crypto framework, the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA), through the legislation phases, its financial services chief urges the American counterparts to keep in step to ensure the forthcoming regulations will be global, not local. 

On Oct. 18, the European Commission’s financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness emphasized to the Financial Times that the regulatory efforts should take a global character. “We do need to see other players also legislating,” said McGuinness, adding, “We need to look at global regulation of crypto.” 

These remarks were made during McGuinness’ visit to Washington DC, where she met the Republican Representative Patrick McHenry and the Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, one of the co-sponsors of the U.S. “crypto bill.” The commissioner was encouraged by these meetings and believes that the U.S. lawmakers were moving in “the same direction.” Nevertheless, she shared her concerns about the possible delays of that movement:

“There could be — in time, if it grows — financial stability problems. There also are investor issues around a lack of certainty.”

The European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved the MiCa on Oct. 10 following a vote from the European Council. Following legal and linguistic checks, Parliament approving the latest version of the text, and publication in the official EU journal, the crypto policies could go into effect starting in 2024.

Related: EU commissioner McGuiness says privacy, AML may look different from US under MiCA

Meanwhile, after several different bills on crypto in general and stablecoins, in particular, have been introduced to the public, the U.S. lawmakers’ discussion stalled. One of the reasons might be the upcoming midterm elections, which could re-draw the balance of powers in Congress and the Senate. The FT also highlights the disagreement between the Democratic and Republican parties, especially regarding stablecoins.