A coalition of European financial institutions and technology companies is pressing policymakers to accelerate reforms governing distributed ledger technology, cautioning that the region may lag behind the US in the digital finance sector. In a collective letter, 39 signatories - including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq, and fintech associations from multiple EU countries - urged the European Commission and Parliament to isolate the DLT pilot regime from a broader legislative package currently under review. According to the signatories, handling the DLT rules independently would enable more rapid updates, as reported by Bloomberg.
The DLT pilot, introduced in 2023, permits companies to experiment with tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, on blockchains. The pilot is part of a larger set of 18 financial laws progressing through the EU's legislative process, which industry groups warn could take years to complete. The coalition is advocating for practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros ($176 billion), and eliminating license expiry dates.
These changes, they argue, would provide companies with the flexibility to establish genuine markets rather than limited trials. The letter coincides with the US's efforts to regulate the space, including the proposed 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 broader strategy to mobilize savings into investments.