There European Commission It plans to announce one in the next few days New regulation for Stablecoindespite the negative opinion expressed by the ECBwhich sees in this tool an element capable of increasing volatility die markets and therefore potentially risky for the financial stability of the Eurosystem.
The regulation proposal
Brussels, according to an anticipation of the Financial Times, will emanate formal guidelines, which propose an identical treatment of the Stablecoins issued outside the European Union with those specifically admitted on European markets.
Everything was born after that The authorité de controôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR), French banking and insurance authority, last year, asked theEuropean banking authority (Eba) to establish whether it was possible that technically identical and fully fungible tools are issued both by an authorized entity in the European Union and by another entity outside the EU.
The guidelines are proposed to cover a gray area of the law of the European Union on this particular category of cryptocurrencies, which work as digital money and are external to the banking system.
The opposite opinion of the ECB
The Commission is carrying out this regulation proposal In spite of the warnings of the European Central Bankaccording to which the proposed standards could destabilize banks of the area of the single currency during periods of volatility of the market and represent a potential risk for the financial stability of the euro area.
Just last Monday, the President of the ECB Christine Lagarde had warned the MEP about the potential risks of Stablecoin for monetary policy and the financial stability And he had hoped for “solid rules”, especially when operating on international markets.
Based on European legislation, the Stablecoin issued within the Union they must hold most of them reserves at a bank based in the Union And the holders can convert their coins into cash directly from the issuer. The ECB said that the new rules could Increase the risk of a racing to reserveswith the potential risk of infection Among the banks, since foreign holders could hurry to access the reserves intended for European holders, creating liquidity problems and incapacity of the reserves themselves.
Then there is the problem of the eternal competition between the euro and dollar, since 99% of the Stablecoins are anchored to the dollar and would therefore undermine the ambitions of the ECB of affirmed the digital euro.
Impact on the vast stablecoin market
It should be remembered that Stablecoins are a particular category of cryptocurrencies, intended to replicate the value of a sovereign currency, usually the US dollar, and are guaranteed by liquid activities held in reserve.
The new rules will certainly have a impact on the stablecoin market in rapid growth: there is talk of a market for about 250 billion dollars And analysts foresee that its value will decipsy in the coming years. The US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent he then declared that there could be 2,000 billion dollars in circulation globally and that their proliferation could “strengthen the supremacy of the US dollar”.
