The European Union is moving forward with plans to release new comprehensive set of rules for cryptoassets. EU finance ministers met on Tuesday in Brussels to approve the rules the European Parliament agreed upon in April.
The set of rules will be the first in world to regulate the crypto sector. Regulators were urging lawmakers to act and even crypto firms have been supportive, asking for certainty in regulations across the world. The need got stronger after the collapse of Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2022.
The new regulations will enter into force from January 2024. They will require firms to obtain a licence within the EU to operate in issuing, trading and safeguarding cryptoassets, tokenised assets and stablecoins. Plus, from January 2026 firms will have to obtain the names of senders and beneficiaries dealing with cryptoassets.
In addition, transactions will be made easier to trace for regulators to combat tax evasion and money laundering and the bloc will amend rules to strengthen cooperation between member states in taxation over transactions and on advance tax rulings.
Commenting on the meeting, Swedish finance minister Elisabeth Svantesson said “recent events have confirmed the urgent need for imposing rules which will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets, and prevent the misuse of crypto industry for the purposes of money laundering and financing of terrorism.”
