Laura van Geest, head of the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets, has said the country will take a firm stance to enforce the new EU rules on cryptocurrencies.
According to her, digital assets are associated with fraud, manipulation and speculation. At the same time, the provisions of the comprehensive regulation of crypto asset markets (MiCA) will only partially eliminate these risks.
She has written:
"We see no reason to be lenient with law enforcement. The regulators' warnings came true in the conditions of the cryptocurrency winter. Prices plummeted, several exchanges went bust. But will this permanently reduce the appeal of cryptocurrencies? The MiCA solves some problems, but not all."
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Geest has noted the country's authorities intend to strictly supervise the industry, even if that means leaving the business to other jurisdictions.
Recall that EU Council members signed the text of the draft law on the regulation of digital assets in October last year without further discussion. The MiCA includes rules that apply to issuers of unsecured crypto assets, stablecoins, trading and custodian platforms.
Crypto asset service providers will have to comply with strict requirements aimed at protecting consumers, and trading platforms will have to provide technical documents.