European Parliament

A paper on virtual currencies in 2016 reported by Jakob von Weizsäcker from the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

Beyond financial services, the Commission is actively reflecting on possible pilot projects to foster decentralised innovation ecosystems and help reshape interactions between consumers, producers, creators and among citizens, businesses and administrations to the end benefit of society.The following report on Virtual Currencies from the European Commission explores DLT benefits and challenges as well as fields for applications in financial services.

This report, authored by European Parliament member (MEP) Jakob von Weizsäcker of the Committee on Economic and , calls for the creation of a horizontal Task Force DLT to be set up under the leadership of the Commission.

Are virtual currencies an opportunity to transfer money more cheaply or just a way for criminals to trade in illegal goods? The Parliament's economic committee held a hearing in January to discuss the issues involved with experts, who told them EU regulation should not go beyond preventing and fighting crime. Parliament is currently working on a report on virtual currencies, which the economic committee is expected to vote on in April.