EU Passes Crypto Regulations: End of the Wild West Era

• The European Parliament has passed a series of sweeping digital currency regulations in response to the FTX debacle.
• These regulations will ensure the protection of customer funds, impose eco-friendly protocols on crypto companies, and bring digital currency closer to traditional finance.
• Lawmakers have declared that this will help end the “Wild West” status of the crypto industry and provide greater security for investors.

European Union Passes New Crypto Regulations

The European Parliament has recently approved a set of stringent digital currency regulations aimed at preventing ongoing abuse and manipulation. These rules come as a result of incidents such as the FTX fiasco last November, in which executives used customer funds to pay off loans for another company and buy luxury Bahamian real estate.

Protection Of Customer Funds

EU Commissioner for Financial Services Mairead McGuinness stated that these new rules would have likely prevented or at least minimized the damage done by those in charge had they been implemented earlier. All wallet providers (including exchanges) are required to take measures to ensure all digital currency assets held within their systems remain protected, and those who fail could face heavy penalties.

Eco-Friendly Protocols

The regulations also call for large providers to provide information on how they plan to reduce energy use, carbon emissions, and overall pollution. This will help promote more eco-friendly practices within the crypto industry.

Closer To Traditional Finance

These rules also bring crypto closer to traditional finance by introducing certain aspects from it into the arena. This could make it harder for cyberthieves to steal digital assets since they would need more than just technical know-how now.

Ending The Wild West Status

Ernest Urtasun – one of the EU lawmakers pushing these regulations forward – feels that they will finally put an end to the “Wild West” status that has lingered over cryptocurrency markets for years now. He said this should provide greater security for all investors going forward.