European Commission collaborates with other authorities on regulatory mapping of crypto assets

European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis has recently revealed that it is working with other supervisory authorities on “regulatory mapping of crypto assets.”

Speaking at the informal ECOFIN press conference in Vienna, Dombrovskis touched on the subject of crypto-assets, initial coin offerings (ICOs) and related regulatory concerns.

“We see that crypto-assets are here to stay. Despite the recent turbulence, this market continues to grow,” he noted.

With regard to ICOs, Dombrovskis said that they have a potential to emerge as a viable form of alternative financing, noting that over $6 billion was raised in funding via this method last year.

To that end, he also underscored the associated risks including lack of transparency, investment protection and market integrity, as well as money laundering, potential fraud or hacking. Dombrovskis emphasized the need to continue monitoring this area in cooperation with global counterparts at the Financial Stability Board or G20 level.

“One challenge with crypto-assets is how to categorise and classify them, and whether and how to apply existing EU financial rules to these assets or if we need new EU rules,” he said.

“In this context, we are currently working together with European Supervisory Authorities on what we call regulatory mapping of crypto assets to answer exactly these questions. Many Member States today supported the need for such mapping, so we expect to conclude this assessment later this year. This will provide a solid ground to build on and to decide on further steps in this area.”

In July, the Financial Stability Board (FSB) published a framework to monitor the implications of crypto-assets on financial stability. It said at the time that while crypto-assets currently do not pose a material risk to global financial stability, there is a need for vigilant monitoring in light of the speed of market developments.