Markets in crypto‑assets regulation:Does it provide legal certainty and increase adoption of crypto‑assets?

This study discusses the European Union’s proposal for a Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets,now subject to formal approval by the European Parliament.The objective is to explore whether it will positively impact the adoption of crypto-assets in the financial sector.The use of crypto-assets is growing.However,some stakeholders in the financial service sector remain skeptical and hesitant to adopt assets that are yet to be defined and have an unclear legal status.This regulatory uncertainty has been identified as the primary reason for the reluctant adoption.The proposed regulation(part of the EU’s Digital Finance Strategy)aims to provide this legal certainty for currently unregulated crypto-assets.This study investigates whether or not the proposed regulation can be expected to have the intended effect by reviewing the proposed regulation itself,the opinions and reactions of the various stakeholders,and secondary literature.Findings reveal that such regulation will most likely not accelerate the adoption of crypto-assets in the EU financial services sector,at least not sufficiently or as intended.Some suggestions are made to improve the proposal.

Is money going digital? An alternative perspective on the current hype

Current financial discourse suggests the imminence of a cashless society,a concept that arose from the global popularization of digital financial services and the development of technologies with the potential for application in financial markets.However,claims about the impending obsolescence of paper money are neither disruptive nor a novelty.Instead,this paper argues that the conversion of money from paper to bits has been a gradual,adaptive process,and that money is already digital.Moreover,in this paper we propose that the statuses of electronic money(e-money)and banknotes have switched in the view of monetary authorities.