Blockchain and the Digital Financial Future
In a speech yesterday by Maria Luís Albuquerque, the European Commissioner for Financial Services and the Savings and Investments Union at the European Commission – and set out in a press release issued by the European Commission – the EC confirmed a major package to fully integrate EU financial markets. This package is a central component of the Savings and Investments Union (SIU) strategy, aiming to create a more integrated, efficient, and competitive financial system
See the press release from the EC: Commission launches major package to fully integrate EU financial markets
Highlights from the speech and press announcement include:
- Europe leads globally with MiCA and the DLT Pilot Regime but must keep evolving.
- Tokenisation is seen as a major transformation, enabling faster settlement and broader market access.
- Innovation is welcome, but must operate with rules, accountability, and trust.
- Stablecoins have legitimate uses but must be well-regulated to protect EU monetary sovereignty.
- Crypto risks are cross-border; large platforms should face EU-level supervision.
- Europe calls on innovators to engage openly and help shape better, safer digital markets.
In her speech, the commissioner set out that tokenisation is seen as a major transformation, enabling faster settlement and broader market access. To this end, proposed measures in the package include focusing on removing regulatory barriers to innovation related to distributed ledger technology (DLT). It is adapting the regulatory framework to support these technologies and amending the DLT Pilot Regulation (DLTPR) to relax limits, increase proportionality and flexibility, and provide legal certainty, thus encouraging the adoption of new technologies in the financial sector.
And 21X’s position?
- We welcome the EU measures to integrate markets decisively.
- The recognition of stablecoin use cases by the EC is a positive step forward.
- We are fully in agreement with the measures and actually acting on all these details – so we are fully onboard.
- The implementation of these changes must be swift. At a minimum, the proposed removal of product limitations and the increase of thresholds need to take effect now. This could be achieved by carving out the proposed changes and integrating them into another legislative package that will enter into force earlier.
- We see other jurisdictions, particularly the US, leveraging their existing, high-liquidity markets and a more agile, technology-neutral regulatory interpretation to drive significant institutional adoption of tokenized assets now. Europe must ensure swift and successful implementation of a revised Pilot Regime to avoid falling behind the global curve.
Max J. Heinzle, CEO of 21X, stated:
“The European Commission’s package is a resounding validation of the regulated DLT model and our operational strategy. The proposed amendments to the DLT Pilot Regime—including the removal of limitations and increased flexibility—directly address the core issues 21X has identified as the first DLT TSS authorized under the regime and following our announcement of entry.
Globally, the pace of digital change is accelerating, and Europe must respond immediately to remain competitive. We urge lawmakers to ensure these critical changes are implemented within a very short timeframe.”
He concluded:
“Now, the EU must ensure a timely application of the discussed enhancements and a swift and unified adoption of this package. This will showcase the commitment to making the DLT Pilot Regime a permanent pillar of the Savings and Investments Union and secure that Europe can stay ahead of the curve.”
#EUFinance #Blockchain #DLT #Tokenisation #Regulation #Innovation #MiCA #21X #DigitalFinance #SavingsAndInvestmentsUnion
