European Parliament Passes Comprehensive Cryptocurrency Regulation Bill... Expected Implementation Next Year

The European Union (EU) Parliament passed a comprehensive bill to regulate cryptocurrencies, Bloomberg reported on the 20th (local time).

On the same day, the European Parliament approved the cryptocurrency regulation package 'MiCA' bill with 517 votes in favor and 38 against. A separate bill mandating cryptocurrency companies to identify customers to prevent money laundering was passed with 529 votes in favor and 29 against.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Bloomberg explained that this legislation by the European Parliament is the world's first bill aimed at regulating the cryptocurrency industry, ahead of the United States and the United Kingdom.

The European Parliament stated in a press release, "The bill will impose many requirements on cryptocurrency platforms, coin issuers, and traders regarding transaction transparency, disclosure, authorization, and supervision."

The bill aims to reduce the risks for consumers purchasing cryptocurrencies by holding cryptocurrency providers accountable if investors lose their cryptocurrency assets. Accordingly, cryptocurrency platforms must inform investors of the risks related to platform operations, and the sale of new coins will also be subject to regulation.

Additionally, platform operators must prepare sufficient reserves for stablecoins such as USDC to prepare for large-scale withdrawals by investors. The daily transaction volume of stablecoins is also limited to 200 million euros (approximately 290 billion KRW).

The European regulatory authority (ESMA) has been granted the power to intervene directly if cryptocurrency exchanges fail to adequately protect investors or threaten financial stability.

Mairead McGuinness, EU Commissioner for Financial Services, said, "We expect this law to be implemented starting next year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.