EU countries pass world's first comprehensive regulation on cryptocurrencies

European Union (EU) member states have formally approved the world's first comprehensive regulatory framework to tighten regulation of the cryptocurrency industry, with regulations expected to be implemented from 2024.

At a conference in Brussels, Belgium, EU Finance Ministers reached a final consensus on a set of rules in the Money Markets Act (MiCA), which was voted on by the European Parliament (EP) last April.

Cryptocurrency regulation has become an increasingly urgent requirement for regulators in many countries, especially after the collapse of FTX, one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges.

“Recent events have highlighted the urgent need to impose rules that better protect Europeans investing in these assets and prevent the misuse of the crypto industry for money laundering and terrorist financing,” said Elisabeth Svantesson, finance minister of Sweden, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU.

The new rules require companies to obtain a license if they want to issue, trade and safeguard digital assets, tokenized assets and stablecoins (cryptocurrencies designed to maintain a fixed value) in the 27 EU member states.

At the conference, EU Finance Ministers discussed in detail measures to prevent tax evasion and the use of electronic transfers for money laundering by making transactions easier to trace.

Accordingly, from January 2026, service providers will be required to clearly provide the names of the sender and beneficiary in electronic asset transactions, regardless of the amount transferred.

In addition, EU officials also reached an agreement on amending the rules on tax cooperation between EU member states, ensuring coverage of transactions using digital assets, and exchanging information on previous tax rulings for the wealthiest individuals in this field.

With the official approval of the MiCA act, the EU is one step ahead of the US and UK, which have yet to introduce formal rules for the crypto space.

He is planning a phased approach, starting with stablecoins and gradually expanding to other cryptocurrencies, but there is no firm timeline yet.

Meanwhile, the US is focusing on using existing securities rules to enforce in this area and is considering whether to introduce separate new rules.

According to Nhan Dan Newspaper null

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