Crypto lobbyists have a new cudgel in their intensifying battle with US regulators: Europe wants their business, writes Politico.
Industry leaders are increasingly making the trans-Atlantic juxtaposition to argue for clearer regulations as US agencies begin to enforce decades-old rules for trading and banking in the crypto world. Congress is nowhere near the point where it might craft a federal standard for digital currency, so regulators appointed by US President Joe Biden are filling the void.
That’s in contrast with the European Union, reports Politico, which is preparing to activate new laws tailor-made for digital asset companies. Many European officials are beginning to pitch the EU as a welcoming place for crypto businesses to set up shop.
“We will have the best framework in the world in which companies can develop,” said Stefan Berger, the conservative German lawmaker who shepherded the EU crypto rulebook that will come into force in the second half of 2024. “We will have everything that you need for a workable market.”
It’s an argument that no US policymaker is in a position to make, with American politicians at odds over whether to embrace or discourage the growth of crypto and regulators taking matters into their own hands. The collapse of the digital asset exchange FTX only complicated matters, revealing widespread industry mismanagement and taking down its former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried, once a major crypto player in Washington. Lobbyists and sympathetic lawmakers stateside are trying to keep pressure on Congress by warning that the US is falling behind the rest of the world without a clearer set of rules.
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