A coalition of 39 prominent European financial institutions and tech groups is urging EU lawmakers to accelerate the revision of distributed ledger technology regulations, warning that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance if changes are not made promptly. In a joint letter to the European Commission and Parliament, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and various EU fintech associations advocated for the separation of the DLT pilot regime from a larger package of 18 financial laws currently under review. By handling the DLT rules independently, the firms believe that updates can be implemented more swiftly. The DLT pilot, launched in 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, using blockchain technology.
However, the pilot is currently part of a broader legislative package that may take years to pass. The industry coalition is pushing for practical reforms, including the expansion of permitted assets, increased transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the removal of license expiry dates. These changes, they argue, would allow firms to develop substantial markets rather than limited trials.
The letter comes as the US is shaping its regulatory landscape for the industry, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package together as part of its plan to mobilize savings into investment.