Payment Expert’s Blockchain Bulletin analyses how the world of blockchain is constantly evolving and heavily impacting the payments industry, with cryptocurrencies, NFTs and the metaverse revolutionising the space.
This week, Bitpace CEO, Anil Oncu, spoke with Payment Expert at length to discuss the early impacts of the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations, what it means for large scale stablecoin issuers and whether or not it will become the gold standard for future crypto regulation.
Bitpace CEO: ‘MiCA necessary for crypto’s mainstream adoption’
MiCA’s restrictive rules are already making a profound impact on the European crypto market, with Tether having to delist its EURT coin on, whilst Circle gained clearance to offer its Euro-backed stablecoin.
Oncu believes that these stablecoin rules, whilst dependent on the focus of the European market, will not be stringent enough for issuers to avoid the market altogether.
He said: “Ultimately, whilst many in the industry understandably regard regulation from traditional institutions as a threat to the realisation of crypto’s potential, it remains the most likely path to adoption.
“Without MiCA, Europe’s crypto payment landscape will struggle to mature beyond a fragmented and volatile ecosystem.”
Bitstamp & Stripe to streamline fiat-to-crypto transactions
One of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges and one of the most valuable payment startups are joining forces to simplify the fiat-to-crypto process.
Bitstamp will leverage its decade-long crypto expertise to onboard near instant settlements of cryptocurrency transactions on Stripe’s crypto onboard platform, in an attempt to make the process as seamless as possible for the user.
France opens up applications ahead of MiCA’s official launch
In other news regarding MiCA, France’s monetary organisation, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has now allowed finance and crypto companies alike to apply under European’s crypto regulations.
Becoming one of the first EU countries to open up these applications, France has increasingly championed the adoption of blockchain and digital assets in recent years.
Why blockchain is more secure than its human counterpart
In a recent article written by Ryan Lewis, Head of Custody Operations at Coincover, for Payment Expert, he argues that the human manual process when it comes to blockchain security needs to be tighter and blame should not be placed solely on the technology.
Lewis goes into detail on the rise of blockchain hacks of recent years, why these hacks are not just merely due to the perceived fragility of blockchain, and what role the crypto industry cna play in mitigating these attacks.
FCA warns firms over non-compliance with promotion rules
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has conducted research into how companies have acted to the crypto promotion and marketing rules it made effective last September.
Whilst the FCA found that some companies have acted in good faith by providing parameters such as cooling-off period and risk warnings, the financial regulator also found that many have not been as compliant as they would like them to be.