EU Finance Chief Pushes US Crypto Regulations
The European Union’s head of financial services stressed to leaders on Capitol Hill that it is important for the United States to finalize regulations governing cryptocurrency oversight.
Mairead McGuinnessThe EU Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, met with lawmakers during a trip to Washington DC and New York last week to talk about how to regulate the cryptocurrency and digital asset industries.
The Irish Commissioner met Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-North Carolina) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York) as well as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and Janet Yellen during a Regulatory Roundtable, she said at Twitter.
This was her first visit to the US as EU Commissioner for Financial Services, she said in a LinkedIn post mail.
While the EU recently passed among the most comprehensive frameworks around crypto, the US is still struggling to assign agency oversight. The Securities and Exchange Commission has been aggressive in monitoring and legislating crypto exchanges, but coins have little oversight.
The US is also still debating whether cryptocurrencies should qualify as securities regulated by the SEC or commodities that fall under the regulation of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
See also: The final draft of the EU crypto law restricts Stablecoin transactions
The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) Act creates a broad legal framework for digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, PYMNTS reported on October 6.
It divides cryptocurrencies into three categories: stablecoins, which are called e-money; asset-backed tokens, which are stablecoins backed by assets other than fiat, including algorithmic stablecoins like TerraUSD which collapsed in a $48 billion run in May; and everything else.
Read more: US regulators sound cautious about FinTech innovation
“In the EU, we look forward to working with the US on ways to make digital finance safer, greener and more transparent,” McGuinness said in a separate LinkedIn mail from her appearance in Washington for FinTech Week.
