#european union

Lawmakers in the European Union are weighing the option of calculating fines for X by factoring in the revenue streams from Elon Musk’s other enterprises, such as SpaceX and Neuralink. This could lead to a steep rise in potential financial penalties for Musk over breaches in content moderation.

On July 1, at a press conference in Paris, Circle announced that its stablecoins, USDC and EURC, now adhere fully to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations.

The European Commission is rolling out a comprehensive package of measures to encourage the development of artificial intelligence (AI) among startups, alongside small and medium-sized enterprises. This strategic plan is consistent with EU principles and guidelines.

With MiCA's launch on the horizon, Croatia's government is hard at work developing rules to address the shortcomings. This includes a June directive that mandates all cryptocurrency companies to register within a two-month period. Officials are now on the path to implement "passporting," a MiCA feature that permits financial entities from a single country to serve the entire European Union under their home country's rules. Croatia's intention with these moves is to make the nation more appealing to cryptocurrency companies than other EU countries.

Securitize, a digital asset trading platform, has started tokenizing equity in Spanish real estate investment trust, Mancipi Partners. The tokens will trade on the Avalanche blockchain from September. This marks the first tokenized equity issuance under the European Union’s pilot scheme for distributed ledger technology, supervised by the European Securities Market Authority. Securitize will also undergo a six-month supervision period by Spain’s National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). Securitize's CEO, Carlos Domingo, believes the move will significantly benefit European businesses, providing new avenues for capital raises and potential tax benefits.

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance faces the risk of losing access to the European Union market if French regulators reject the company's application for registration under the new MiCa legislation. A major reason for this could be that Changpeng Zhao (CZ) is the sole owner of the French branch, holding 100% of its shares.

According to official registries, this year has seen the emergence of nearly 1,000 new cryptocurrency companies in the European Union. It is anticipated that by the end of the year, the total count of registered firms involved with decentralized technologies will reach approximately 11,600.

The Spanish government has announced its intention to adopt the European Union's comprehensive crypto framework (MiCA) at the national level, moving up the implementation timeline by six months. This expedited schedule is driven by the need to establish legal clarity and enhance investor protection in the cryptocurrency sector, as stated by the country’s officials.

Mairead McGuinness, the European Commissioner for Financial Services, believes there's no need to rush the launch of a digital euro before the next EU elections in June 2024. She advises the next EU Commission to take a careful and measured approach to the CBDC rollout. Furthermore, McGuinness mentioned that the European Central Bank will finalize its stance on the project this coming October.

The proposal to create a digital Euro by the European Union is facing academic skepticism, with some specialists forecasting its doom from the get-go. Two economists from the University of Bern, Cyril Monnetm and Dirk Niepelt, have cited preset storage limits for users as a primary concern. They also flagged the possible disinterest of banks in the digital Euro's success if it doesn't lead to significant revenue. Without the backing of commercial entities, they believe, widespread adoption might remain a distant dream.