Matthew Elderfield: EU and UK approach crypto regulation too differently

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The former Deputy Chairman of the European Banking Authority shared his opinion on the situation with regulation of the cryptocurrency market in the European Union and the UK, which has left it.

Matthew Elderfieldsays that differences are now beginning to emerge between the EU and the United Kingdom regarding the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. The UK Parliament is preparing a Financial Services and Markets Bill, and British regulators are developing new rules for high-risk investments. At the same time, in Europe there are rules for regulating markets for crypto-assets (MiCa).

UK plans to start withregulation of several cryptocurrency assets and service providers, while the EU finalizes wide-ranging rules for assets and any companies operating in the industry. According to Elderfield, compared to the European Union, British regulators have only just begun to embrace the fast-growing industry. EU authorities are counting on large investments and are ready to regulate new crypto assets and crypto companies.

Differences in UK and EU rulesextend to service providers as well: Britain is aiming for fewer crypto services, such as storage and exchange, while the EU is trying to cover many aspects of the industry - cryptocurrency trading, order transfer and other cryptocurrency services.

Differences in regulatory approach maynegatively impact crypto companies wishing to operate in both the eurozone and the UK. This will make it much more difficult to obtain licenses in both jurisdictions, Elderfield said.

Previously on the Cross-Party Parliamentary GroupUK (APPG) said they are going to study the views of stakeholders on the supervision of digital assets. To do this, the parliamentary group plans to interview crypto exchange operators, industry experts, as well as representatives of government financial institutions and regulators.