About: blockchain
Europe moves towards a common approach to regulate cryptoassets
European decision-makers and regulators are progressing towards an EU approach for dealing with cryptoassets, digital assets that use cryptography such as Bitcoin and represent a booming market still viewed with concern by financial supervisors.
Commission holds its fire against Bitcoin and Co.
The European Commission is still hesitant to regulate cryptocurrencies, despite a warning issued by European regulators and bans imposed in other regions following the rising market volatility of digital currencies.
Rethinking urban energy: How Europe is leading the way
To achieve ambitious climate goals in line with the Paris Agreement, cities will need to implement major changes to their energy systems by 2030. The good news is that the transformation in the energy sector is making such ambitious programmes much more feasible and European cities are in the forefront, writes Eric Woods.
Benifei: Embed blockchain in copyright reform
Blockchain technology can provide a win-win-win between the fight against censorship, verified traceability of digital artworks, and a fair remuneration for its creators. The copyright reform debate is a good opportunity to embed blockchain and create a better regulatory framework, argues Brando Benifei.
Notaries turn blockchain into ally for digital transactions
Once feared as a technology that would make legal practitioners redundant, blockchain has now actually strengthened the role of notaries as interpreters of complex transactions, best illustrated by the convoluted issue of land registries.
Commission wants bigger role for regulators in sustainable finance development
The European Commission has proposed giving the European Supervisory Authorities broader powers to determine what represents environmental, social and governance investment and to monitor banks’ activities in this field.
Could a blockchain-based electricity network change the energy market?
Blockchain-enabled energy trading could help lower carbon emissions but efficiency and privacy issues must first be overcome, EURACTIV's media partner The Guardian reports.
Is blockchain about to disrupt the electricity sector?
While EU lawmakers are picking over proposals intended to drag Europe’s electricity sector into a 21st century dominated by intermittent renewable power and decentralised generation, others are already contemplating ways in which new digital technologies might shake things up even more.
The EU’s FinTech strategy: Can Europe compete globally?
2017 will be a pivotal year for FinTech. The European Commission recently published a consultation and the European Parliament voted on its own initiative report in May. Both initiatives will input into an EU FinTech strategy expected by the end of the year.
Seventeen EU leaders ask Tusk for digital talks on ‘highest level’
On the eve of an EU summit, leaders from 17 EU countries have asked European Council President Donald Tusk for highest-level talks on EU digital policy, saying it was the single market’s main engine and should receive stronger political support.
Darknet guru: New technology can help build European identity
Modern technology could shore up the European project, boost transparency and help governments collect taxes. Author Jamie Bartlett told EURACTIV.com that the EU should become the great technological innovator but warned that politicians simply aren’t prepared for massive changes ahead.
EU analysts say traditional parties should learn from populists
In the wake of Brexit and the growing dissatisfaction of European voters, populists are gaining ground across the continent. But experts don’t seem concerned, as they see the shake-up as a healthy sign of democracy.
Russia opens the door to cryptocurrencies
The benefits of blockchain are attractive to Russia’s financial system, writes Antonia Colibasanu.
MEPs side with innovators on FinTech
Supporting innovation should be the driving force behind the EU response to the emerging field of financial technology, European lawmakers said in a draft resolution adopted yesterday (25 April).
Brussels eyes EU-wide licence for FinTech startups
The European Commission wants to create a special regime to attract FinTech companies in Europe and help the old continent compete globally on this promising new market, EU sources told EURACTIV.com.
In Barcelona, cutting-edge technologies struggle to demonstrate their potential
As the Mobile World Congress continued, the "father" of Li-Fi said his LED-based wireless connection technology deserves EU support, while Blockchain developers defended the positive impact of the public ledger on society at large.
European power grid operators gear up for digital transformation
The next wave of digital innovation – and disruption – in the electricity sector will rely on artificial intelligence and Blockchain technology, according to the new boss of the European power grid operators association, ENTSO-E, who is drafting an IT roadmap for publication later this year.
Anti-establishment wave to help push blockchain into real world in 2017
A wave of anti-establishment sentiment sweeping the Western world is likely to help push blockchain – the technology that gave birth to the renegade digital currency Bitcoin – out of cyberspace and into the real world in 2017.
Robert Madelin: ‘We have to assume the hardest possible Brexit’
The EU treaty mentions a two-year deadline for a member state to conclude negotiations to leave the European Union. But it also foresees possible extensions, opening the way for a follow-on process, says Robert Madelin, who just left the EU executive.
Commission champions ‘laissez-faire’ in first response to FinTech revolution
The digital revolution in the financial sector will get a helping hand from EU regulators later this year when the European Commission tables new proposals for retail financing, with a clear objective: let the revolution flourish.
National Front calls for ban on Bitcoin
The National Front wants to preserve cash and ban Bitcoin, which it sees as an unsafe form of payment. The EU has yet to legislate on the subject. EURACTIV France reports.
MasterCard international chief: ‘Brexit wouldn’t be a significant change for us’
Blockchain is expected to have a larger impact on our business than a potential Brexit, suggests MasterCard’s deputy boss, Ann Cairns. In her view, the technology behind virtual currencies like bitcoin is “a good thing for the future”, she told EURACTIV.com.
Bitcoin expert: EU should ‘wait and see’ before regulating blockchain
Lawmakers are debating how to deal with virtual currencies and, in particular, with the promising technology behind them: blockchain. Patrick Murck, co-founder of Bitcoin Foundation, believes that the current ‘hands-off’ approach is the right one.