A coalition of 39 European financial institutions and technology companies is calling on lawmakers to accelerate the revision of regulations governing distributed ledger technology, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a jointly signed letter, prominent signatories including the Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and fintech associations from multiple EU countries, have urged the European Commission and Parliament to separate the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review. According to Bloomberg, the firms argue that handling these rules independently would enable more rapid updates.
The DLT pilot, which has been in place since 2023, permits companies to test the trading and settlement of tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, using blockchain technology. The pilot 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 several years. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible asset types, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros ($176 billion), and eliminating license expiry dates. They contend that these changes would provide companies with the flexibility to establish substantial markets rather than limited trials.
The letter coincides with the US's efforts to establish laws regulating the space, including the Genius Act, aimed at further integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package collectively as part of its broader strategy to channel savings into investments.