European Union members have given final approval to the world’s first comprehensive cryptocurrency regulations. EU finance ministers met in Brussels Tuesday (May 16) to approve the regulations, which were accepted by the European Parliament in April, Reuters reported, noting that regulating the industry has gained new urgency following last year’s collapse of FTX. “Recent events have confirmed the urgent need for imposing rules which will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets, and prevent the misuse of crypto industry for the purposes of money laundering and financing of terrorism,” said Swedish finance minister Elisabeth Svantesson, whose country holds the EU presidency. The rules, expected to be rolled out next year, mandate that companies get a license if they wish to issue, trade and safeguard crypto assets, tokenized assets and stablecoins in the EU. The EU parliament approved the crypto licensing framework, Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) April 20 in a 517-38 vote. “This puts the EU at the forefront of the token economy,” Stefan Berger, lead MEP for the MiCA rules, said at the time. “Consumers will be protected against deception and fraud, and the sector that was damaged by the FTX collapse can regain trust.”
Full report : EU Countries OK World’s First Comprehensive Crypto Rules.
