MacManus welcomes agreement on regulation of crypto sector

Sinn Féin MEP Chris MacManus has welcomed an agreement between Member States and the European Parliament to introduce new regulations on the currently unregulated crypto-assets sector. The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Directive signifies that regulation is now being brought to what has been described as the “wild west” of modern finance.

MacManus, who is a member of the Parliament’s negotiating team, welcomed the deal saying:

“I am pleased to see this deal hammered out. The way is now clear for this regulation of the crypto world, or the “wild west” as Fabio Panetta of the ECB described it, to be subject to a level of transparency and regulation. This has been sorely lacking and has left consumers vulnerable when dabbling in crypto-assets especially in the trading of crypto currencies.”

“MiCA also compels companies trading in crypto-assets to disclose the environmental impact of the processes behind the creation of that crypto-asset. As we know, some of these use very environmentally wasteful processes. The deal hammered out here is unfortunately weaker than what I sought and weaker than what was originally agreed by the EU Parliament in this important area but it still represents progress in making sure crypto-assets are monitored to check their environmental impact.”

The Sinn Féin MEP concluded, “This Directive will ultimately improve consumer protection, financial stability and transparency. The Directive must be brought into force as soon as possible so that consumers are protected and investors and others are protected like consumers in any other area of finance.” ENDS

Chris MacManus MEP with EU Parliament negotiating team, Commissioner McGuiness and EU Council representative after agreeing on new crypto regulation legislation

—–