Mairead McGuinness, the European Commission’s commissioner for financial services, talked about cryptocurrency regulation in an interview with the Financial Times, published Tuesday.
Referencing the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) bill that will provide a regulatory framework for crypto across countries in the European Union, she stressed that any regulation imposed on the crypto industry would need to be global in order to work. The commissioner elaborated:
“We do need to see other players also legislating … perhaps differently, but with the same objective . . . We need to look at global regulation of crypto.”
McGuinness urged U.S. lawmakers “to draw up sweeping new rules to govern the crypto industry,” the publication described, adding that she warned digital assets could pose a threat to financial stability if left to grow unregulated.
During her recent trip to Washington, D.C., McGuinness met with several U.S. lawmakers who have been pushing bills in Congress to regulate the crypto industry, including Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).
The House of Representatives passed a bill titled “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act” in April last year that was introduced by McHenry. It requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) “to establish a working group focused on digital assets.” McHenry has repeatedly criticized the SEC for regulating the crypto sector by enforcement. Senator Gillibrand and the pro-bitcoin Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced a comprehensive crypto bill titled “Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act” in June.
