During a panel discussion at Korea Blockchain Week on August 2, European Union (EU) Advisor Peter Kerstens provided new insights into the EU’s efforts to create broad regulatory measures in the crypto and NFT spaces.
According to Kerstens, NFT collections will be treated the same as cryptocurrencies under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) law, as CoinDesk reports.
With this new classification, EU citizens who want to sell an #NFT collection will be classified as #crypto-asset service providers (CASPs), and they will need to obtain express authorization from the EU before offering their services (or wares) to the public.
According to a press release, the EU hopes these measures will “protect #investors and preserve financial stability while allowing innovation and fostering the attractiveness of the #crypto-asset sector.”
This process is expected to take one to three months, with larger CASPs required to submit reports on their activities to the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) regularly.
The #EU hopes that by taking an aggressive stance against #NFTs, it will reduce instances of #crypto assets being used for money laundering and other illegal purposes.
The EU will require anyone launching an #NFT #collection within its jurisdiction to submit a #white #paper on the NFT’s protocol as part of this new classification.
According to #CoinDesk, Kerstens also stated that over-the-top promises about the future value of any given NFT project are explicitly prohibited. The EU hopes that these measures will lay the groundwork for holding would-be #rug #pullers legally accountable for their actions.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the United States’ efforts to regulate the crypto and NFT spaces have primarily focused on bad actors who use emerging #blockchain technologies to commit a white-collar crimes on a large scale.
With former #Coinbase and #OpenSea employees recently charged with insider #trading, much of the initial steps in regulating #Web3 in the United States have come down to the formation of specialized cybercrime divisions within institutions such as the #IRS and #FBI.
With both parties making inroads into regulating the previously lawless world of NFTs and crypto, it remains to be seen which strategy will be more effective in the long run.
