A coalition of 39 European financial institutions and technology groups is urging lawmakers to accelerate the reform of distributed ledger technology regulations, warning that the region may lag behind the US in digital finance if changes are not made promptly. In a joint letter, the signatories, including Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, have asked 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 believe that updates can be implemented more quickly. The DLT pilot, which has been in place since 2023, allows companies to test the trading and settlement of tokenized assets, such as shares and bonds, using blockchains. However, the pilot is part of a larger set of 18 financial laws that are currently 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, including the expansion of allowed assets, an increase in transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the removal of license expiry dates. These changes, they argue, would provide firms with the necessary room to establish real markets rather than limited trials. The letter comes at a time when the US is shaping its own laws to regulate the space, including the proposed Genius Act, aimed at bringing crypto further into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the full legislative package together as part of its broader plan to mobilize savings into investment.