- A Bitpanda official believes the regulatory clarity offered by the Market in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) plays a key role in attracting big banks in the European Union (EU) into cryptocurrencies.
The Call for Regulatory Clarity in the Crypto Market
The importance of regulatory clarity on cryptocurrencies cannot be understated. This is why this has always been the rallying cry of many crypto-related firms over the years, especially those ensnared by the ambiguity of the rules in the US.
The countries under the European Union, however, are a huge leap ahead of the American market with the impending enforcement of the Market in Crypto-Assets. Thanks to this regulatory framework, the best practices in the region’s existing rules in traditional securities are harmonized with the standards in crypto assets and stablecoins.
In a nutshell, MiCA aims to foster innovation, security, stability, and legitimacy over the crypto projects and services falling under its umbrella. It likewise streamlines the application process for new players without compromising the EU’s high standards in terms of transparency and Anti-Money Laundering (AML).
MiCA Draws Big Banks Into Crypto
Big banks in Europe are now reportedly being drawn into the crypto ecosystem mainly due to the regulatory clarity promised by MiCA. This was confirmed by Bitpanda Deputy CEO Lukas Enzersdorfer-Konrad in an interview.
“European banks are moving into crypto as an asset class and tokenization technology because MiCA, the upcoming regulatory framework for Europe, is suddenly bringing full clarity for banks,” the exec told Cointelegraph.
Enzersdorfer-Konrad also pointed out there are many banks nowadays that want to jump onto the crypto bandwagon, yet they lack technical expertise in the matter. Again, thanks to MiCA potentially ushering the entry of established players in the space like Bitpanda, getting into the game has been made easier for them as they could simply tap accredited companies specializing in the sector.
“Suddenly [banks] are realizing that they do not have the technical expertise, the knowledge internally because they didn’t have time and investment to build it up, but suddenly they want something to go to market with,” he added.
Despite the lack of harmonized rules concerning cryptocurrencies in the US, Enzersdorfer-Konrad saw the approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a major contributor to the soaring institutional interest in crypto assets.
“Across all Europe, all sizes of banks, from tier one to tier three, are clearly looking for providers and use cases about how to start,” he went on.