A coalition of 39 prominent European financial firms and tech groups is pressing lawmakers to accelerate the revision of distributed ledger technology regulations, cautioning that Europe may lag behind the US in digital finance if changes are not made promptly. In a joint letter to the European Commission and Parliament, signatories including Boerse Stuttgart Group and Nasdaq, as well as fintech associations from several EU countries, are advocating for the separation of the DLT pilot regime from a larger package of 18 financial laws currently under review. By handling these rules independently, the firms argue that updates can be implemented more quickly, as reported by Bloomberg.
The DLT pilot, which has been in place since 2023, enables companies to experiment with tokenized assets like shares and bonds, using blockchains for trading and settlement. However, as part of a broader legislative package, the process may take years to complete. The industry coalition is seeking practical reforms, including the expansion of permissible assets, an increase in transaction limits to 150 billion euros, and the removal of license expiry dates. These changes, they contend, would allow firms to establish substantial markets rather than limited trials.
The letter comes at a time when the US is shaping its own laws governing the space, including the Genius Act, aimed at integrating crypto into mainstream finance. The European Commission has indicated a preference for passing the entire legislative package together as part of its strategy to mobilize savings into investments.