Blockchain Secretary General for Europe speaks on the state of global crypto regulation | Video

We are now joined by Blockchain General Secretary for Europe, Robert Koch. Robert. Welcome to the show. Thank you for. Okay, Robert, we were just looking at our little consensus ad over there and we saw Lefty the, I don’t know if it was a Llama or an Alpaca. I think, I think it was a L Lefty the llama. All right. From last year, one of my highlights. And do you remember Lefty? No, the llama. Do you remember the llama? Actually, it’s nice because you know, we were there and uh my assistant is a big fan of llamas and uh he has a tattoo on his arm because it’s his totem animal and he was so excited. And I was like, yeah, okay, let’s do the Instagram story and get it over with and it was great. People loved it and you should have more animals here. RIGHT. I agree. We should have more animals here. Maybe we’ll find a little puppy pen or something we can reach by consensus. I feel like this would really help the people she hangs out with. We can bring everything in, come in for an in-depth conversation. Stay for the cute and cuddly animals. All right, we’ll start talking about regulation in a second. But I must have what you think. You have already reached a consensus. How do you feel? In fact, we’re just starting the year 2024. Great. I mean, my first consensus was always New York. So it was a bit of a different experience. It was more, I don’t want to say old school, but New York is, you know, a little different than Austin. And since then, we have seen that the consensus always evolves with the market. So, you know, last year was a little less than enthusiastic and the year before that was amazing. I think this year will be amazing. Again, there’s a lot of positive vibes, uh, a lot of things happening and adoptions and regulations emerging. Um, you know, like that, legal certainty will be there, businesses will be happy. I think at least in Europe, I think in the United States, you’ve also made progress now, you know, everything is good. No, it’s a great transition, you know, the regulatory framework for marketing crypto assets comes into effect this year. What are you waiting for? What are you seeing from companies and businesses trying to prepare for this? Um, expectations range from very high to dire. Um, there’s a big difference depending on which angle you take, right? I mean, the regulation itself generates a lot of legal certainty for the market. So it’s a real opportunity to establish yourself in Europe, you know, open a business and be sure that what you’re doing is legally sound and allows you to grow. RIGHT? This is the key element. On the other hand, the question still arises of how regulators will implement this measure. And you know, the European Union has 27 member states and not all countries are equally crypto savvy. I mean, it’s the same in the United States, right? I mean, there’s a difference between, but, uh, I don’t want to name and shame many states, but there are differences between states and it’s the same in Europe. And if you’re local to a place where regulators are a little more conservative, it can be a little harder to get things done. But I think overall, most companies will locate in a handful of countries and once Mica is in place, right? So stablecoins, some of it will go into effect at the end of June and the rest at the end of the year and then you’ll have rules that aren’t perfect, but I think it’s a great starting point, don’t is this not ? I mean, no regulation has ever been perfect. But uh you have to start somewhere and uh as an industry player we will continue to work to improve this and it’s all about, you know, the innovators in the field. And that’s why we’re also here, you know, to talk to them to see what they’re interested in, what they’re looking for, why it’s important. And then, I hope, go back to Europe and tell our policymakers to adapt over time. So, regarding these adjustments, uh, the European elections are in a little over a week. Um, are there any expectations that, you know, re-elected people or newly elected officials might seek to change or update. Um, you know, the 27 members, you know, the framework before the individual nations do it or just what do you expect from the elections? I mean, I love this question because I have a very strong opinion on this. Many changes are coming and the last parliament was rather center-left, traditionally more focused on social issues and consumer protection climate, which is not a bad thing, is it? But when it comes to innovation and business, they are always very cautious. So first there’s consumer protection, and then let’s see if there’s room for innovation. Parliament will move a bit to the right, which in some ways isn’t so great, to be honest. But when it comes to business, fintech and crypto, I think it will be a good thing because there will be more open-mindedness and there will be more young parliamentarians who will arrive already accustomed to wallets, to cryptocurrencies , stablecoins and all these things. So the discussions will be different and hopefully better. So I think the opportunity for the industry to move that needle toward a more positive future is very much there. And an opportunity, but maybe I’m completely wrong. RIGHT. And they all elect old guys and they all want a central bank and uh and we all screwed up, but, you know, I’m optimistic. Oh yeah, we’ll have to, we’ll have to wait and see, talk to me about uh getting everyone working together on the drafting, the passage and now the implementation of Mica. This seems like a real challenge. Oh my God, yeah, we had over 200 meetings with policy makers over those two years. And uh, I remember one day when we received the proposed Bitcoin ban in parliament and I was at the Dubai Expo on Saturday night and uh, they asked me, hey, what do you think? -you? Like, it’s terrible. We have to get rid of it, which we finally did. But, you know, actually, I was on vacation in the evening with my family and uh, that’s not how you want to spend your time, to be honest, but, you know, we did it and I think we did a great job. . The only thing that probably wasn’t, it turned out not to be as good as it should have been, because the ST, the stablecoins, just because everyone else was, this big technology comes in and takes over the banking pie. And that’s why they’re very tough on stablecoins compared to a lot of other places, that doesn’t mean it won’t change, especially since the digital euro will take a while and there now has a gap and someone needs to fill it. So maybe they turn a blind eye and say, okay, let them go until we have a digital euro or it will just be an unknown situation where, you know, Teta won’t be there in Europe because It is not me. compliant and a few others could also disappear. And yes, the process was great because it was a collaborative effort and there was a lot of enthusiasm in parts of parliament and the commission because they knew what change it could make, what what it brought and the opportunities. But it was a huge, uphill battle with certain groups and certain mindsets and uh because you know what, we don’t know, we’re afraid most of the time and we spend a lot of time eliminating the fear. And I think overall it went pretty well, but you know, some things we can’t control, right, like uh FTX uh Terra Lua. And uh, luckily Terra Lua came along after Mia was adopted, otherwise it probably would have been different. And uh yeah, so, yeah, but it was exciting, I think, a great process and it was a big fight until the last minute. So, at the end of the trilogue, the French ambassador said thank you. That’s it. Um A minute before I made some decisions on NFTS that no one knew about and they just went into law and that was it, right. So it was, uh, it was quite a journey, as I’ve been saying all morning, we’re talking to other governments, uh, regulators on the show this morning, to try to understand what’s going on and in different regions. Worldwide, do you follow the regulations in different parts of the world? Is there a particular region that you’re watching that you think is doing things incrementally? I mean, we actually track all regions a little more, some less. I mean, you always have to follow the US just because when there’s a global level to this, then normally the US and the UC get together and talk. And uh, the irony is that most of the time when you see what the United States does globally, it’s at odds with what it does at home. They just impose this on everyone. Then people are pissed and, uh, they look at the United States and, like, why don’t you guys implement any of this? Yes, we thought it was a bad idea. It’s like, yeah, we knew it but we did it anyway. And we’re also looking at a lot of things in the Middle East, there are positive developments there and obviously in the major jurisdictions, right? The UK is still relevant to some extent to Switzerland, Japan, Singapore and also what the Chinese are doing, right? Rather, it is surveillance. I mean, there’s not a lot of engagement there, but Hong Kong, for example, is quite interesting. And uh, the next item that will be particularly interesting for the rest of us is probably what’s happening in Africa, right? Because they have a huge problem there with foreign currencies. So CBD C stablecoins, these things that are highly toxic. I would even say that when you look at Nigeria for example, but on the other hand, the adoption in those markets is just huge, right? What if you go to South America or Africa and that’s a great use case, right? Because in the West, people always wonder what is the use case for crypto? And because we have these payments and these infrastructures and, uh, these banks and all these things, and then when you look at people who live abroad or especially in emerging markets, it’s just normal for them, is not it ? It’s like everyone uses it before a certain age and I think it’s something that’s slowly evolving in the mindset of Europeans and Americans probably as well. Robert, thank you very much. For joining our programming this morning. This was the Secretary General of Blockchain for Europe, Robert Kit.

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