Belgium’s digital minister: EU plans to “bring order to crypto” and create its own blockchain
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In this week’s episode of The Crypto Mile, our host Brian McGleenon interviews Belgium’s Digital Minister Mathieu Michel, who discusses the EU’s plans to “bring order to crypto” and develop its own official, regulated blockchain. Underscoring the need for trust and regulation in the rapidly evolving crypto ecosystem, Michel argues that crypto should not only be seen as a currency, but as a document of value, a means of exchanging value, identification, property ownership and a way to protect privacy. The conversation also covers the EU’s MiCA (Markets in Crypto Assets) legislation, with Michel explaining that the new regulations aim to strike a balance between innovation, security and privacy without hindering progress. By establishing trust through clear, proactive regulatory guidelines, Michel believes MiCA can help Europe build a robust ecosystem and harness the coming wave of web3 innovation. The EU is also focused on creating a safe investment environment and plans to develop concrete blockchain applications in 2024 with the establishment of “Europeum”, a blockchain for Europe. This official blockchain will concentrate on the exchange of data related to the block’s citizens, such as driver’s licenses, identity cards and property deeds.
Video transcription
BRIAN MCGLEENON: In this week’s episode of “The Crypto Mile,” we speak with Belgium’s Digital Minister Mathieu Michel to discuss the implications of MiCA, the Markets in Crypto Assets bill that will implement the EU’s world-first regulatory framework for crypto. And we will also discuss europium, a smart contract blockchain for the bloc’s member states that can store property ownership, driving licenses and professional qualifications for all European citizens. Mathieu Michel, welcome to this week’s episode of Yahoo Finance’s “The Crypto Mile.”
MATHIEU MICHEL: Thank you. I am very pleased to meet you, Brian.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: We are very lucky. Looking at MiCA, like GDPR and PSD2 before it, will MiCA become the global reference for crypto and digital asset regulation? And could it fuel the next phase of this burgeoning industry?
MATHIEU MICHEL: I think that it can increase the cryptocurrency industry in Europe because Europeans are very strong on the regulation. And the purpose of our regulation is always to build trust, trust in innovation first, also in GDPR and privacy. And that’s what we do.
We’re seeing that the crypto asset markets and the crypto ecosystem is really — some might say it’s evolving very quickly. And we believe that we need to build trust in this kind of evolution just to be able to unleash the power it represents. There are many possibilities in the blockchain, Web3 and the way we can exchange value in the digital world. But it needs to be in a trusted ecosystem in a trusted way to see the exchanges. That is why MiCA, in my view, provides the opportunity to unleash the power of crypto assets and crypto exchanges. That is for sure.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: So what have been the negative reactions within the EU towards MiCA?
MATHIEU MICHEL: One thing that is very problematic, I think, in the way that some people identify crypto is to think that cryptocurrency is actually a currency. That is for sure. If you think that cryptocurrency is currency, it is a mistake. From my point of view, cryptocurrency can be seen as a Pokémon. It is something that has the value you want to give it. So it is not a currency. And it can be a poor way to identify crypto assets.
We only see and many people only see the cryptocurrency or cryptoassets as a financial tool. I see crypto assets, the crypto market as the way we can exchange value, the way we can protect privacy. And that’s why I think it’s a problem to just identify crypto-economics around cryptocurrency because of course there was no regulation. It’s a bit of the far west.
And that is why with MiCA we can define things. We can bring more transparency. We can build trust for the companies, but also for the customers. Indeed, this is how Europe always brings some order if it looks like the Far West. It is by bringing trust through regulation. And the big challenge is always the same is finding the fair balance between innovation, security, privacy, but also being able not to limit the power of innovation.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: Do you see MiCA as helping the EU take the lead in the digitization of, for example, financial services in the capital markets? And do you think that over time it could lead to the EU in a sense taking trade away from other financial hubs such as London?
MATHIEU MICHEL: MiCA was not built to defeat component competitors. MiCA was first built to unleash power innovation through trust. And in that way, yes, it can help us develop a strong ecosystem because we have a lot of talent in Europe who have understood that the next wave of innovation will be Web3. As soon as we will be able to have a safe framework, I think for the company it will be a safe place to invest, because yes, the far west can be fun, but it can also be dangerous.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: That brings us to the European blockchain service infrastructure and your concept of europium, which is sort of a variant of the Ethereum blockchain. So can you describe the development so far with this idea of having a blockchain for the whole of Europe?
MATHIEU MICHEL: Yes, as you mentioned, right now there are blockchains that are being used, but which are actually private blockchains that are not regulated. You mentioned the digital wallet. I can mention the driver’s license or the way the driver’s license can work together between the countries or the identity cards, or the passport, or the property title. We know that blockchain has enormous value in that kind of evaluation of the data.
I talked about the fact that blockchain builds value. It is allowed to exchange value. The biggest value I think for me is the data, the data that concerns yourself, the title of property or driver’s license and so on. But if you want to have a secure exchange, if you’re talking about cyber security, if you’re talking about privacy, if you’re talking about yes, as we imagine that kind of data exchange, I’m convinced that it has to be in a regulated way. blockchain.
It’s like building a regulated highway to say, OK, we’re building the highway. We build the roads, and under those roads there are applications such as driving licences. And I think that is very important. If you take Ethereum for example, Ethereum is completely clear and transparent. OK, that might be a good thing for some applications. But do you want your life exposed on Ethereum, anyone can know what you buy, when you buy it and so on?
So if we build — that’s why I think EBSI is a good starting point, but it’s a technical project right now. Another thing that as Europeans and probably for everyone, I think we need to build some kind of political project about blockchain.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: This as a blockchain for Europe idea, has anything happened so far, or is it just still an idea, just still conceptual, or has there been any work done by the EU on it?
MATHIEU MICHEL: It has already begun. So EBSI is a project that exists right now, but it is the beginning of something. There are some types of tiny applications that try to create some proof of concept. Belgium will have the European Presidency in 2024. And one of my goals during the Presidency will be to transform a technical project EBSI into political projects.
And that is why we are already working right now in Belgium and also with other countries with specific applications for blockchain. For example, we want to be a pioneer in Belgium when we talk about the digital wallet, the digital identity.
BRIAN MCGLEENON: Mathieu Michel, really exciting times for blockchain in Europe and also discusses the implementation of MiCA. Thank you so much for coming to this week’s episode of “The Crypto Mile.”
MATHIEU MICHEL: Thank you. It is a pleasure.
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