A coalition of 39 prominent European financial institutions and technology companies is urging lawmakers to accelerate the revision of distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a joint letter, the signatories, including Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, requested that the European Commission and Parliament detach the DLT pilot regime from a larger package of 18 financial laws currently under review. By handling these rules independently, the firms believe that updates can be implemented more swiftly.
The DLT pilot, established in 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, on blockchains. However, as part of a broader legislative package, the process may take years to complete.
The industry groups are pushing for practical reforms, including the expansion of permitted assets, increased transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the removal of license expiry dates. These changes, they argue, would allow firms to establish substantial 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 integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated its preference for passing the entire legislative package together as part of its strategy to mobilize savings into investments.