Bitcoin continued to hold on strong Wednesday, albeit displaying minimal volatility in the past six days. 

Earlier this week, the top cryptocurrency by market capitalization attempted to breach the $27,300 resistance only to slide lower amid heightened regulatory scrutiny by US agencies towards the crypto industry. However,  prices have been moving lower with difficulty this week; signalling bulls are still fighting for control. 

MiCA Regulations Get Another Green Nod

Bitcoin’s strength comes even as ministers of the European Union (EU) signed off on landmark crypto rules on Tuesday, marking a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency industry.

This significant development establishes the European bloc as the first major jurisdiction in the world to introduce a comprehensive crypto licensing regime. The approval encompasses not only the licensing framework but also incorporates new anti-money laundering measures that specifically target the transfer of crypto funds.

Elisabeth Svantesson, the minister of finance for Sweden, expressed her satisfaction, stating, “I am very pleased that today we are delivering on our promise to start regulating the crypto-assets sector.”

“Recent events have confirmed the urgent need for imposing rules which will better protect Europeans who have invested in these assets, and prevent the misuse of the crypto industry for the purposes of money laundering and financing of terrorism,” she added.

As ZyCrypto has previously reported, one of the primary objectives of MiCA has been to establish clear rules and requirements for cryptocurrency service providers, including exchanges, wallet providers, and custodian wallet providers. These entities will be subject to stringent regulations to ensure consumer protection, market stability, and financial transparency. The regulation also aims to implement anti-money laundering measures on crypto funds transfers in a bid to strengthen the bloc’s fight against financial crimes.

The US Lags Behind

The latest step by the EU Council comes even as pressure mounts on the Biden Administration to publish a crypto regulatory framework. Despite the US president issuing an executive order in March 2022 aimed at kickstarting the process of drafting regulations for the crypto sector, the process has taken overly long, eroding investor confidence in the US crypto space.

Notably, the absence of a unified regulatory framework for crypto-assets markets hinders user confidence, innovation, and competition. It also poses potential challenges to financial stability and payment systems. EU’s approval of the MiCA regulation thus marks a significant milestone in the global crypto-assets sector and sets an example for other regions.

That said, with Hester Pierce, a commissioner of the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), recently expressing confidence in MiCA being a model for crypto regulations in the US, it remains to be seen if it could influence the future of cryptocurrency regulation in the world’s largest economy.

At press time, the BTC price was trading at $26,684, down 1.20% in the past 24 hours, per CoinMarketCap data.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 17, 2023 2:23 pm