European Ministers Call on EU Commission to Regulate Stablecoins
Finance ministers from five European countries have called on the EU Commission to issue regulation for stablecoins as well as sanctions for providers that break the rules.
- Ministers from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands told the Commission that stablecoins regulation was needed to protect consumers and preserve the bloc’s monetary sovereignty from Big Tech firms, according to Reuters.
- In a joint statement at the Bundesbank Conference Friday, ministers said private stablecoin providers needed to adhere to European regulation and should not be allowed to operate in the bloc if they fall below a certain standard.
- Although not mentioned by the name, ministers may be referring to the Facebook-backed libra coin. Both the French and German governments have already said they were opposed to private companies launching currencies that could challenge the euro.
- One such measure would mandate stablecoins all be asset-backed 1:1 with the euro and other member state currencies and that must be held in European Union-approved institutions.
- Another proposal might be stablecoin providers obliged to register as a European entity.
- The EU’s economic chief said back in June the bloc was preparing a new cryptocurrency regime that would include tougher requirements for global stablecoin providers.
- Earlier Friday, the head of the French central bank said the EU was too dependent on Big Tech. If left unchallenged, these private companies could shut out governments and central banks from having any monetary role in their own countries.
- Also at the same conference, the head of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, said the EU had fallen behind digital asset development globally.
