Blockchain industry raises concerns over EC’s proposed crypto regulations

Major players in the global cryptocurrency community have addressed the European Commission’s new legislative proposals on digital assets. The International Association for Trusted Blockchain Applications, or INATBA, has released an initial response to the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations proposed by the EC. The association features major crypto companies like Ripple, ConsenSys, and Iota.

In its official response to the EC, the INATBA members expressed the industry’s concerns over the proposed MiCA regulations, calling the authority to bring their forces together in further development of the regulatory framework. While the INATBA generally sees the MiCA as a positive step that aims to establish regulatory clarity, some of its members outlined a number of significant concerns.

For example, they claim that in its present form, the MiCA could “overburden a young and innovative industry with costly and complex compliance and legal requirements that are disproportionate to the policy objectives it pursues.” The association expressed hope that the EC will provide supportive measures to ensure that the MiCA does not stifle innovation within the European Union and cause the EU-based firms to flee to non-EU countries.

As part of the response, the INATBA also underlined that the proposed legislation in its current form could negatively impact some emerging industry sectors like Decentralized Finance, or DeFi. “Certain analyses suggest that, under the proposed regulation, novel and early-stage developing markets such as Decentralised Finance would likely no longer be accessible to Europe and her citizens,” the INATBA’s statement reads.

Officially introduced on Sept. 24, MiCA regulations are part of the EC’s new digital finance package that is subject to consideration by the EC's legislative counterparts. According to global digital asset policy and regulatory adviser XReg Consulting, MiCA will be directly applicable throughout the EEA without the need for national legislation once adopted.

In its summary to MiCA, XReg expressed confidence that the new legislation will have a profound impact not only on the European Economic Area, but on the entire world. Nathan Catania, a partner at XReg Consulting, told Cointelegraph that he expects the adoption of the new legislation to take a few years.

Established with the EC’s support in April 2020, the INATBA has more than 100 members including tech giant IBM, consulting giant Accenture, and Deutsche Telekom.