EU adopts two laws on cryptocurrency regulation

The European Parliament has adopted two new laws on cryptocurrency regulation: The Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA). It is hoped that compliance with these laws will help solve social and economic problems with digital assets.

According to the European Commission’s website, the new laws will apply to the largest cryptocurrency platforms operating in the EU. Below are the main rules provided by the DSA and DMA.

TheDigital Services Act (DSA) is aimed at combating illegal content on platforms and removing it; enhanced verification of traders and allowing users to appeal against the decisions of content moderators and banning certain types of advertising (advertising targeting children or advertising containing sensitive data).

TheDigital Marketplaces Act (DMA) obliges platforms to: allow large business users to access all necessary data; not to price their own services or products more than other platforms; and not to use users' personal data beyond the scope of the authorization.

According to representatives of the European Parliament, cryptocurrency platforms face fines of up to 10% of their total annual turnover and up to 20% in case of repeated violations.

As for the expanded MiCA law on cryptocurrency regulation, it is still under discussion. As previously reported, the European Commission is ready to add rules to the MiCA that will regulate the circulation of non-fungible tokens (although officials did not see the need for this before) and consider the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies based on the PoW (Proof-of-work) algorithm.