A coalition of 39 European financial institutions and technology companies is pressing lawmakers to accelerate the reform of distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a collective letter, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and fintech associations from multiple EU countries have urged the European Commission and Parliament to isolate the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review. According to the signatories, decoupling the rules would enable more rapid updates, as reported by Bloomberg.
The DLT pilot, initiated in 2023, permits companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, on blockchains. Presently, the pilot is embedded within a set of 18 financial laws navigating the EU's legislative process, a journey that industry groups warn could span several years.
The coalition is advocating for pragmatic reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros ($176 billion), and eliminating license expiration dates. These amendments, they argue, would provide companies with the necessary flexibility to establish substantial markets rather than limited trials.
The letter coincides with the US's efforts to shape laws governing the sector, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the comprehensive legislative package as a unified whole, as part of its broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.