EU's Dombrovskis may set out tough new rules for cryptocurrencies

Valdis Dombrovskis is a nominee to become the European Union’s next finance commissioner and he has pledged to propose new rules to regulate the crypto industry.

“Europe needs a common approach on crypto-assets such as Libra. I intend to propose new legislation on this,” said Valdis Dombrovskis

Mr Dombrovskis who has been the bloc finance commissioner for the last five years is going for reelection. He also stated that in regulating virtual currencies the EU should tackle “unfair competition, cybersecurity, and threats to financial stability” according to a Reuters report.

He is not the only one looking to regulate cryptocurrencies. The UK's FCA is looking to declassify cryptocurrency derivatives industry after many complaints. The World Federation of Exchanges has contacted the FCA to plea for leniency. In an interesting move, this could mean trading crypto derivatives could be gambling and therefore not subject to tax in the UK. In the EU, Germany and France have both come out and condemned Facebook's planned coin Libra. Now it seems that Dombrovskis is on board which could win him some votes.

It was also announce today that Facebook might push back the release date but this is just speculation. It seems the regulatory enviroment for cryptocurrencies is getting tougher.