The long-held myth of crypto markets benefitting from a “legal vacuum” has recently been dismantled once and for all. Whereas the EU has adopted a regulation for markets in crypto-assets (MiCAR), international standard-setters such as the FATF, the FSB, BCBS and IOSCO have issued a series of far-reaching recommendations that are now to be implemented worldwide. Given these significant regulatory headwinds, the crypto industry will inevitably have to go through a process of maturation and consolidation.

By Franca Contratto (Reference: CapLaw-2023-38)