Crypto Asset Firms Call for Global Consensus Instead of “Raining Down” Rules

The “rain” of different approaches from regulators to crypto assets lacks the global consensus needed to attract investors consolidated that would create a more mature market, an industry executive said at a conference on Wednesday.

The European Union has finalized the world’s first comprehensive rules for crypto asset markets, known as MiCA, but other countries, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, are further behind.

Aside from compliance with regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, cryptocurrency companies are largely unregulated in many parts of the world.

“It is really commendable that Europe has been able to achieve this so quickly”Hester Peirce, commissioner of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, told a Financial Times conference.

“If we created a good regulatory regime, people would come. I think we’ll see with MiCA. We are shooting ourselves in the foot by not having a regulatory regime in the United States.”said Peirce.

The US Congress must decide which regulatory body has authority over cryptocurrencies, Peirce added.

The CFTC, the US derivatives regulator, is also keeping an eye on the industry as the need for clearer rules grows more pressing following the bankruptcy of crypto exchange FTX last year.

But in the absence of other legal frameworks, EU rules will inevitably serve as international standards until there is consensus on a global standard, said Eva Gustavsson, head of public affairs at cryptocurrency firm Copper.

“Right now we are drinking from a veritable rain of proposals from regulators, and that is all over the world”Gustavsson said. “I think it would be unrealistic for any company to think that they shouldn’t have to deliver something very quickly”.

According to Sarah Pritchard, executive director of supervision at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, the key is global standards and harmonization where possible.

According to Pritchard, the IOSCO, an umbrella body for securities regulators, will soon present global policy proposals.

Gustavsson stated that greater regulatory clarity would see more traditional institutional investors enter the cryptocurrency market to “mature it further”.

Source: EFE