Major European financial institutions and tech companies are calling on lawmakers to accelerate the revision of distributed ledger technology regulations, warning that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance. In a joint letter, 39 signatories, including prominent firms like Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, as well as fintech associations from several EU countries, requested that the European Commission and Parliament detach the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review.
By handling these rules separately, the firms 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, it is currently part of a larger set of 18 financial laws making their way through the EU's legislative process, a journey that industry groups claim could take years to complete. The coalition is advocating for practical changes, such as expanding the range of permitted assets, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and eliminating expiration dates for licenses.
These changes, they contend, would provide firms with the necessary room to establish full-fledged markets rather than merely conducting small-scale trials. This push 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 entire legislative package together as part of its broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.