European Union Close in Agreeing on Crypto Regulations - Bloomberg

As the clamor for crypto regulations has continued to intensify, the European Union (EU) is close to agreeing on a comprehensive regulation that will govern the nascent digital currency ecosystem.

The news was broken by Bloomberg claiming to draw inference from sources familiar with the discussions between the 27 member states.

Per the Bloomberg report, the EU member states, currently chaired by France, are currently disagreeing on how to approach certain aspects of the Market In Crypto Assets (MiCA) bill. Some of the aspects that are highly contentious include how to incorporate Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) into MiCA, avenues to regulate stablecoins, and how to supervise crypto assets service providers operating within the region.

The sources affirmed that EU negotiators are considering placing a ceiling on stablecoin transactions, a move that will largely prevent the excessive use of these asset types as legal tender within the bloc. The capped transactions will particularly be applied to stablecoins that are not backed by the Euro.

As the sources confirmed, the member states are currently close to agreeing on these gray areas, and something meaningful may come up in the next meetings scheduled for June 14 and June 30.

Further complications that may impact the ongoing negotiations borders significantly on the subject of crypto mining and the impact of the supposedly excessive energy consumption. The EU at a time wanted to restrict Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining, the consensus that is being used by Bitcoin miners to validate transactions. 

The push for this ban was rejected by the EU Parliament Committee back in March, a move that showed the entire regulatory proposal in MiCA is not primarily centered on cutting back the current status quo in the industry. With the broader industry anticipating the MiCA bill this year, the current reports are an indication that there is a green light at the end of the tunnel.

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