European Commission official plans to bring in new regulations for crypto, including Facebook’s Libra

Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president for the euro, social dialogue and financial services at the European Commission, plans to bring in new regulations for the cryptocurrency sector in the region.

“Europe needs a common approach on crypto-assets such as Libra. I intend to propose new legislation on this,” Dombrovskis told EU lawmakers at a hearing on Tuesday, as reported by Reuters.

THE SCOOP

Keep up with the latest news, trends, charts and views on crypto and DeFi with a new biweekly newsletter from The Block's Frank Chaparro

By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
By signing-up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

The official, who is also a former prime minister of Latvia, further said that the EU should tackle “unfair competition, cybersecurity, and threats to financial stability” in regulating cryptocurrencies.

Interestingly, the European Commission was investigating "potential anti-competitive behavior" with regard to Facebook's proposed stablecoin Libra. The agency was exploring whether the Libra Association and its proposed payment stack, could prevent peers from being able to compete.

Meanwhile, France’s economy and finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, recently said that the country will halt the development of Libra in Europe because it threatens the “monetary sovereignty” of governments. Germany took a step ahead by passing a blockchain strategy that prevents any parallel currencies to be issued in the country, including Libra. 

About Author

Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.