European Union
EU Commission to remove Russian banks from SWIFT cross-border network
The European Commission announced to remove a number of Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) messaging system, aimed at hindering Russia’s capacity to carry out cross-border payments. In a joint statement released by the European Commission, leaders from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States highlighted their shared interest in defending Ukraine from the war against Russia: “We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin.” While condemning the Russian president Vladimir Putin’s move to lay siege across Ukraine, the EU Commission committed to undertake a series of measures to isolate Russia from the international financial system. President o...
European Parliament postpones crypto bill vote over proof-of-work
The parliament of the European Union is delaying a vote on a framework aimed at regulating cryptocurrencies amid concerns over proof-of-work mining. In a Friday Twitter thread, European Parliament economics committee member Stefan Berger said the government body had canceled a vote on the Markets in Crypto Assets, or MiCA, framework scheduled to take place on Monday. Berger said parliament needed to clarify “the question of proof-of-work” in discussions with stakeholders to ensure a proper legal framework, adding that some might misinterpret the proposal as a ban on crypto. “The discussion about MiCA indicates that individual passages of the draft report can be misinterpreted and understood as a [proof-of-work] ban,” said Berger. “It would be fatal if the EU Parliament sent the wrong signa...
ECB president calls for crypto regulation in response to Russia potentially evading sanctions
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), has called on lawmakers to approve a regulatory framework on crypto, hinting at potentially preventing Russia from getting around economic sanctions. Speaking to reporters at an informal meeting of economics and finance ministers on Friday, Lagarde said the European Central Bank would be “decisively and rigorously” implementing the sanctions on Russia imposed by European lawmakers in response to the country’s invasion of Ukraine. In response to a question on Russia potentially using crypto to evade some of these measures, the ECB president urged action on an existing proposal for a regulatory framework on digital assets. “Whenever there is a ban or prohibition or a mechanism in place to boycott or prohibit, there are always c...
Hungary’s central bank chief wants EU-wide crypto trading and mining ban
György Matolcsy, Governor of the Hungarian National Bank, has proposed a blanket ban on all cryptocurrency trading and mining operations across the European Union. Governor Matolcsy cited the recent crypto ban imposed by China in a blog post shared by the Hungarian central bank a.k.a. Magyar Nemzeti Bank (MNB) titled “Time has come to ban crypto trading and mining in the EU.” He also pointed out the Russian central bank’s proposal that calls for a blanket ban on domestic cryptocurrency trading and mining. Reciprocating the proposals for a crypto ban, Matolcsy said: “I perfectly agree with the proposal and also support the senior EU financial regulator’s point that the EU should ban the mining method used to produce most new bitcoin.” The governor strongly believes in cryptocurrency’s...
Are NFTs an animal to be regulated? A European approach to decentralization, Part 1
Nonfungible tokens (NFTs) are constantly in the news. NFT platforms are springing up like mushrooms and champions are emerging, such as OpenSea. It is a real platform economy that is emerging, like those in which YouTube or Booking.com gained a foothold. But it is a very young economy — one that is struggling to understand the legal issues that apply to it. Regulators are starting to take an interest in the subject, and there is risk of a backlash if the industry does not regulate itself quickly. And, as always, the first blows are expected east of the Atlantic. In this first article devoted to the legal framework of NFTs, we will focus on the application of the digital asset regime and financial law to NFTs in France. In a second article, we will come back to the issues of liability and c...
Disgraced MP tells Parliament UK can be the ‘home’ of crypto
The former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and current U.K. Member of Parliament (MP) Matt Hancock urged the House of Commons to make England the “home” of crypto. Hancock has served as an MP for West Suffolk since 2010 but stood down from his role as the Health Secretary in mid-2021 following controversy surrounding COVID breaches tied to an alleged extramarital affair. Which is to say his endorsement, while welcomed by the industry, may not hold as much cachet as it once did. Following up from his speech at the House of Commons on Jan. 27, Hancock emphasized the disruptive potential of crypto and fintech on Twitter, noting that: “The UK can be the home of new innovations like FinTech and Cryptocurrency. Done right we can increase transparency and lead in new world-changing ...
How should DeFi be regulated? A European approach to decentralization
Decentralized finance, known as DeFi, is a new use of blockchain technology that is growing rapidly, with over $237 billion in value locked up in DeFi projects as of January 2022. Regulators are aware of this phenomenon and are beginning to act to regulate it. In this article, we briefly review the fundamentals and risks of DeFi before presenting the regulatory context. The fundamentals of DeFi DeFi is a set of alternative financial systems based on the blockchain that allows for more advanced financial operations than the simple transfer of value, such as currency exchange, lending or borrowing, in a decentralized manner, i.e., directly between peers, without going through a financial intermediary (a centralized exchange, for example). Schematically, a protocol called a DApp (for decentra...
Point of no return? Crypto investment products could be key to mass adoption
The first Bitcoin (BTC) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) was launched in the United States back on October 19, 2021. Since then, a number of other cryptocurrency investment products have been launched in various markets. That first ETF, the ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF, quicklybecame one of the top ETFs of all time by trading volume on its debut, and soon after, several other Bitcoin futures ETFs were launched in the United States, providing investors with different investment options. To Martha Reyes, head of research at cryptocurrency trading platform Bequant, these options are important. Speaking to Cointelegraph, Reyes pointed out that in traditional finance, ETFs have “proved to be incredibly popular in recent years, with ETF assets expected to reach $14 trillion by 2024.” Reyes s...
Zimbabwe to Load Shed 12 Hours a Day Amid Severe Power Shortage
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UK Artists Granted Visa-Free Touring in 19 EU Countries in Post-Brexit Agreements
The coronavirus pandemic and accompanying shutdown of the live music industry have masked many of the problems created by Brexit for the live-music sector. And fears have lingered about extra customs checks and performers and crews requiring visa and work permits for when European touring does resume. According to a survey conducted by the Musicians’ Union and Incorporated Society of Musicians in April and May, 77% of U.K. musicians expected their earnings in Europe to decrease when touring resumes due to additional Brexit-related red tape and touring costs. In January, over 100 acts, including Elton John, Ed Sheeran and Radiohead, signed an open letter to the British government saying it had “shamefully failed” them with the EU trade deal that was finalized on Dec. 24 by not s...
South Africa extends tight coronavirus restrictions for another 14 days
South Africa extended tight COVID-19 rules on Sunday for another 14 days, maintaining restrictions that include a ban on gatherings, a curfew from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. and a prohibition on the sale of alcohol. The country, the worst-hit on the African continent in terms of recorded cases and deaths, is in the grip of a third wave of infections driven by the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant. “Our health system countrywide remains under pressure,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a televised address to the nation. Early this month South Africa recorded a new record of over 26,000 daily cases, stretching hospitals to breaking point. Ramaphosa moved the country to the fourth level of a five-tier restriction scale in late June as infections climbed, promising to review the restrictions af...
Lithuania begins building barrier on border with Belarus to block migrants
Lithuania began building a barrier along its border with Belarus on Friday after accusing Belarusian authorities of flying in migrants from abroad to send illegally into the European Union. The first stretch of barrier will run 500 metres (1,640 feet) in length, measure 1.8 metres (six feet) in height and consist of concertina and razor wire, the army defence chief’s spokeswoman Ruta Montvile told Reuters. Belarus in May decided to allow migrants to enter EU member Lithuania in retaliation for sanctions imposed by the bloc after Minsk forced a Ryanair flight to land on its soil and arrested a dissident blogger who was on board. “If someone thinks we will close our border with Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Ukraine and will become a holding site for those running from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq...
