09 Feb
Blockchain & Crypto where are the big investing?
EU working on new rules
While the ECB is working on the digital euro, the European Commission is developing new European legislation to regulate Blockchain & Crypto, destined to become a reference point for the banks of the future. Which will be increasingly technological.
It was with this objective in mind that, on 24 September, the EU executive adopted a new package of measures on digital finance and retail payments, as well as legislative proposals on crypto assets, the so-called Mica regulation. Given the ubiquity of these payment instruments, there is a strong need for an EU-wide measure.
The aim is to offer consumers more choice and opportunities in financial services and digital payments, while ensuring a protection system that mitigates risks and reinforces financial stability.
According to the Commission, the new measures will be crucial in supporting economic recovery in the European Union, as they will pave the way for new ways to channel funding to European businesses.
By making the rules safer and more digitally oriented for consumers, Brussels aims to promote responsible innovation in the European financial sector, especially for highly innovative digital fin-tech start-ups.
Blockchain: the four pillars
As Deloitte highlights, the Digital Finance Package consists of the following four pillars:
- Digital Finance Strategy: aimed at making European financial services more digital-friendly and stimulating responsible innovation and competition. The aim is to ensure that European Union (EU) financial services rules are fit for the digital age, including applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), data management and blockchain.
- Proposal for a Regulation on crypto-asset markets (MiCA): aims to provide a harmonised EU-wide framework for the issuance and provision of crypto-asset services, exchanges and trading platforms, mitigating risks for investors.
- Retail payments strategy: aims to achieve a fully integrated retail payments system in the EU, including instant cross-border payment solutions.
- Proposal for a Regulation on digital operational resilience for the financial sector (DORA), which aims to ensure that all financial system participants have the necessary safeguards in place to mitigate cyber attacks and other risks.
Objectives up to 2024
The strategy identifies key priorities and objectives for digital finance in Europe up to 2024:
- Eliminate fragmentation in the digital single market for financial services, thereby enabling European consumers to access cross-border services and helping European financial firms to enhance their digital operations.
- Provide an EU regulatory framework that facilitates digital innovation (crypto-assets, cloud computing, etc.) in the interest of consumers and market efficiency;
- Promote data-driven innovation in finance by creating a common financial data space;
- Address the challenges and risks associated with digital transformation (financial stability, digital operational resilience and investor and consumer protection).
After Tesla, Apple could also invest in Blockchain & Crypto
Apple could follow Tesla’s path and invest in Bitcoin. These are the predictions of RBC analysts, who in a note to clients, have speculated on an expansion of the Wallet app’s functions for buying and selling cryptocurrency. A move that, if made, would not only fuel Apple’s stock, but help the US become a leader in cryptocurrency over the next 10 to 20 years .
“If the company decides to enter the cryptocurrency trading business, we think it could immediately gain market share and revolutionize the industry,” said experts at RBC, which raised its target price on the Cupertino-based company’s stock to $171 from $154 (up 25% from Friday).
Apple enjoys a huge base on which to build a business in digital currencies, consisting of about 1.5 billion people, indicating that it could earn up to $40 billion a year from a Wallet-based cryptocurrency exchange, according to RBC.
Recall that Apple has already expanded the app over the years, making its foray into financial services with the Apple Card in 2019.
The Californian group could boost its entry into the cryptocurrency sector through a $1 billion investment – analysts said – adding that by doing so it could attract more users to the Wallet-based exchange and likely boost the price of the queen of cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin towards $50,000 by the seventh
Such a purchase would not be unheard of. Yesterday Tesla announced it had purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin, saying the token offers “greater flexibility to further diversify and maximise returns on our cash”. The popular cryptocurrency jumped above $44,000 for the first time on Monday on news of Tesla’s purchase.
A level that could be broken by the end of the week. According to Simon Peters, analyst and cryptocurrency expert at eToro:
“The price of Bitcoin has reached an all-time high, driven by news of a huge investment in the cryptocurrency by Tesla and the decision by the world’s largest carmaker (by capitalisation) to start accepting Bitcoin as a payment method for its cars and other products. If there were any doubts about the mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin, this news puts an end to any scepticism. Many other companies already accept Bitcoin as a method of payment and we imagine that, in time, other large companies will follow Tesla’s example. The world is moving more and more online and Bitcoin is at the heart of electronic payments. With this kind of endorsement from a multi-billion dollar company, it is possible that the price of Bitcoin will reach $50,000 by the end of the week.”
1 Comment
erotik
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