A coalition of 39 European financial institutions and technology groups is pressing lawmakers to accelerate reforms governing distributed ledger technology, cautioning that the region's digital finance sector risks lagging behind the US. In a joint letter, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and various EU fintech associations have appealed to the European Commission and Parliament to detach the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review. By handling the rules independently, the firms argue that updates can be implemented more swiftly. The DLT pilot, introduced in 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets like shares and bonds on blockchains.
However, as part of a larger set of 18 financial laws making their way through the EU's legislative process, industry groups warn that this could take years. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, raising transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and eliminating license expiry dates. These proposed changes would provide firms with the necessary space to establish substantial markets rather than limited trials.
The appeal comes as the US is shaping its regulatory landscape for the space, including the Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package collectively as part of its strategy to mobilize savings into investments.