European financial firms and technology groups are urging lawmakers to accelerate changes to rules governing distributed ledger technology, warning that the region risks falling behind the United States in digital finance.
In a joint letter, 39 signatories, including Boerse Stuttgart Group, Nasdaq and fintech associations from several European Union (EU) countries, called on the European Commission and Parliament to separate the digital ledger technology (DLT) pilot regime from a broader legislative package under review.
They argue that handling the rules on their own would allow for faster updates, Bloomberg reports. The DLT pilot, running from 2023, allows companies to test how tokenized versions of assets such as stocks and bonds can be traded and settled using blockchains.
It is among a broader set of 18 financial laws now moving through the EU legislative process, a path that industry groups say could take years.
The coalition is pushing for practical changes, including expanding the types of assets allowed, increasing transaction limits to 150 billion euros ($176 billion) and removing expiration dates on licenses. They argue that these changes would give companies room to build real markets rather than small tests.
The letter comes as the United States drafts laws regulating the space, including the Genius Act, intended to help cryptocurrencies further enter mainstream finance.
The European Commission has signaled that it prefers to approve the full legislative package as part of its broader plan to mobilize investment savings.
