There’s a growing case for allowing crypto firms to bypass banks
2 min read
Within 11 days in March, four banks in the United States and one in Switzerland collapsed. First Republic Bank followed in May. Three of the four largest-ever U.S.
It is time to level the playing field and open up this possibility to all e-money institutions across the EU.
The window of opportunity for legislation to accomplish this has never been greater. What is needed is a targeted review of the Settlement Finality Directive, possibly as part of the review of the PSD or the Instant Payments Regulation (IPR).
Negotiations over the IPR are already establishing a political consensus that such a review is necessary, as resolving direct access to settlement would also support and accelerate the rollout of instant payments in the EU.
And the impact assessment of the Payments Service Directive couldn’t be clearer about the need to level the playing field between banks and non-banks in the payment market. The banking vulnerabilities of 2023 give yet another argument to the well-understood EU debate.
The benefits to the safety and liquidity of non-bank financial institutions, but also to greater innovation in a financial system that is becoming increasingly concentrated amongst global systemically important banks, are evident. The case for granting e-money institutions access to central bank accounts has never been stronger, and the EU should not miss this unique opportunity to make its financial system more competitive and resilient.
Patrick Hansen is the director of EU strategy and policy at Circle. He was previously head of strategy and business development at crypto-wallet startup Unstoppable Finance, and head of blockchain policy at Bitkom, Europe’s largest tech trade association. He holds master’s degrees in business and political science.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
