Smaller cryptocurrency exchange and start-ups could benefit from the European Union’s regulation of markets in crypto assets (MiCA), according to Martin Bruncko, Binance’s executive vice president for Europe.
Cointelegraph had a one-on-one interview with Martin Bruncko during the Web Summit conference in Lisbon in early November 2022. Heading up Binance’s operations in Europe, Bruncko offered unique insight into the exchange’s growth on the continent and his perspective on the regulatory environment.
On October 10, the European Parliament Committee approved the MiCA cryptocurrency policy, which aims to create a single regulatory framework for the sector in the 27 countries that make up the European Union.
Bruncko told Cointelegraph that the European crypto landscape is currently fragmented, with the 27 countries in Europe having different regulatory regimes ranging from “fairly restrictive to nonexistent.” This has led to exchanges being time consuming and financially demanding to ensure that they are fully compliant with different jurisdictions:
“This is exactly the problem right now and that’s why we’re, I’d say almost excited about MiCA, because it’s creating a unique market.”
Bruncko underlined that the current landscape hinders smaller companies that want to expand across the continent, due to the costs of ensuring compliance across borders:
“In principle, it is good news for all the crypto players in Europe because, again, now you can operate within a single market. This makes it much easier to grow your business, scale your business with much less cost. “.
Bruncko also believes that early-stage cryptocurrency companies will also benefit from the legislation by being able to focus on growth rather than legal and compliance considerations.
Europe remains a focal point for Binance, which considers the continent to be one of the largest and most advanced crypto economies in the world. With financial innovation and major fintechs centered in Europe, Bruncko highlighted that the region as a whole will continue to be an important operating space for the exchange:
“A lot of major cryptocurrency projects started in Europe. For example, Ethereum started in London, Switzerland, and other places. Since then, we’ve had a lot of successful and influential projects coming from Europe.”
Bruncko said that Binance has been pushing to ensure regulatory compliance across Europe for the past year. The exchange is regulated in five European countries, including two members of the G7.
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