MiCA

🤩 Recently, our very own Willem-Jan Smits was interviewed by Het Financial Dagblad (Dutch Financial Times) about MiCA and how Dutch crypto companies are preparing for this new regulation.

⚖️ MiCA rapporteur Stefan Berger Tweets that his mandate is not being challenged. He will now enter the trialogue negotiations with the stance that there will be no Proof of Work ban. He states that the EU Parliament gives him the wind in the back and shows innovative strength. Want to know more about this topic? Check out the Podcast section from last week and learn all about it!

Europe

😱 The European Supervisory Authorities (EBA, ESMA and EIOPA - the ESAs) warn consumers that many crypto-assets are highly risky and speculative. The ESAs set out key steps consumers can take to ensure they make informed decisions.

🔔 Paddi Hansen, Head of Strategy & Biz Dev at Unstoppable Finance, is ringing the alarm bell because of a crackdown on unhosted wallets in the upcoming crypto AML regulation (TFR). The ECON committee vote is today (31 March 2022) and the draft includes some absolute red flags in his opinion. Check out the Podcast section below to learn more about this!

😎 The EBA Chairperson, José Manuel Campa, participated in the discussion at the EU Parliament on AML regulation. Among other things, he talked about the money-laundering risks crypto-assets can pose.

🚓 [Dutch] The police have seized several non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in an investigation into the trade in private data. The seized NFTs concern mostly digital works of art. The two suspects are suspected of large-scale trading in private data that can be used in various forms of fraud, such as bank help desk fraud.

Regulatory

🇺🇦 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed a virtual assets bill to legalize cryptocurrencies in a country that is receiving millions in crypto donations for military and humanitarian aid in its was against Russia.

🏦 The Bank of England began sketching out Britain's first regulatory framework for crypto assets, saying that although the sector remained small, its rapid growth could pose risks to financial stability in future if left unregulated.

Bitcoin and National Security with Matthew Pines (English)
Matthew Pines is a Fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute specialising in national security. In this interview, Pines discusses modelling complex systems, current US national security priorities, and how bitcoin can help maintain US hegemony.

The beginning of a new bullmarket (Dutch)
Once again, there's turmoil about new regulations in Europe. This time, the so-called 'unhosted wallets' are under fire, in new anti-money laundering regulations. A committee of the European Parliament will vote on the law today. Fortunately, there's also good news. The price of bitcoin is moving upwards for the first time in a long time. And meanwhile, the major oil company ExxonMobil is experimenting with combining bitcoin mining and excess gas.

[The tricky part is that many details are still unclear because European bodies are still working them out]. "That creates uncertainty, but you can never do too much to improve customer service, so they don't mind."

- Willem-Jan Smits

😋 The OECD have published the expected consultation on the cryptocurrency framework, and have also included e-money institutions within the potential scope. These rules would expand the scope of the Common Reporting Standard to require reporting by institutions supporting cryptocurrency transactions, NFTs, CBDCs and certain e-money products. The consultation is public, which means that interested parties are invited to send comments before 29 April 2022.

📜 DeFi protocols have triggered a paradigm shift in the world of finance. This creates challenges for compliance with jurisdictional Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations, including Know-Your-Customer (KYC) policies. This report presents a concept solution for when a DeFi protocol is required or finds it desirable to implement KYC policies.

🔥 [Dutch] De Nederlandsche Bank has released its yearly report. This report looks at the economic and financial developments in the year 2021. Secondly, it will take a look at the near future by ranking the three developments that characterize the transformation of our economy; a balanced recovery following the pandemic, sustainability and digitalisation. The English version will be released in two months.

Postscript

Thank you for reading the latest edition of the Watsonlaw newsletter. If you have any content-related recommendations or news you'd like us to share for next time, please don't hesitate to reach out to info@watsonlaw.nl or even better, directly connect with our team members Willem-Jan Smits and Jorie Corten. To stay up to date with all our updates and connect with our team, follow Watsonlaw on LinkedIn. Did we miss anything? Or perhaps something got you particularly intrigued? Do send us a message and let's talk! Ciao for now and see you again next time!