European financial institutions and tech companies are pressing lawmakers to accelerate changes to distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance if action is not taken. In a joint letter, 39 signatories, including prominent firms such as Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, as well as fintech associations from several EU countries, have requested that the European Commission and Parliament isolate the DLT pilot regime from a broader package of 18 financial laws currently under review. By handling these rules independently, the industry argues that updates can be implemented more swiftly.
The DLT pilot, which has been in place since 2023, enables firms to experiment with the use of blockchains for the trading and settlement of tokenized assets such as shares and bonds. However, as part of a larger set of financial laws, the legislative process may take years to complete. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permitted asset types, an increase in transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the elimination of license expiry dates. These changes, they contend, would provide firms with the necessary flexibility to establish genuine markets rather than limited trials.
This development comes as the US is shaping its regulatory framework for the industry, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at further integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package as a unified whole, as part of its broader strategy to channel savings into investments.