A coalition of European financial institutions and tech companies is pushing for accelerated reforms to the rules governing distributed ledger technology, citing concerns that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance. In a joint letter, the 39 signatories, including prominent firms such as Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, are asking the European Commission and Parliament to separate the DLT pilot regime from a larger package of financial laws currently under review. By doing so, they argue that updates can be implemented more quickly, according to Bloomberg. The DLT pilot, which has been in place since 2023, enables companies to test the trading and settlement of tokenized assets like shares and bonds using blockchain technology.
However, as part of a broader set of 18 financial laws, the pilot's progress may be hindered by a lengthy legislative process. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of allowed assets, increased transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the removal of license expiry dates. These changes, they claim, would provide companies with the flexibility to establish genuine markets rather than limited trials.
This development comes as the US is shaping its own laws to regulate the space, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at further integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the full legislative package as a whole, as part of its strategy to mobilize savings into investment.