European payments in the foreseeable future: in pursuit of a coherent legal framework for stablecoins

Castillo-Olano, Andrea (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: La proposta di regolamento sul mercato dei crypto-asset (MiCA) delinea un quadro normativo per due tipi di stablecoin, quelli collegati ad un’attività finanziaria e quelli con funzione di pagamento. Il presente lavoro intende contestualizzare la proposta nel mercato interno dei pagamenti. A questo scopo, dopo un breve richiamo alla natura giuridica dei crypto-asset, esamina la proposta di regolamento alla luce della disciplina europea in tema di servizi di pagamento e moneta elettronica. The proposal for a Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets (MiCA Regulation proposal) establishes a legal regime for two kinds of stablecoins: the asset-referenced tokens and the electronic money tokens, which are said to be intended primarily as a means of payment. This paper aims to make a first approach to their proposed regime and to analyse whether the interplay between the MiCA Regulation proposal and the standing payments legislation is coherent. For that purpose, after a short reference to the legal nature (or its lack of determination) of cryptocurrencies in general, the proposal and the particular tokens are introduced. On this basis, the scopes of the Second Directive on Payment Services, as well as the Second Directive on Electronic Money are briefly described, so afterwards the applicability of these pieces of legislation to the specific regimes of asset-referenced and electronic money tokens can be analysed, in regard to both the issuance of the tokens and the further transactions executed in relation to them.

Idioma: Inglés

Año: 2020

Publicado en: Ianus - Diritto e Finanza 22 (2020), 63-103
ISSN: 1974-9805

Originalmente disponible en: Texto completo de la revista

Tipo y forma: Article (Published version)

Área (Departamento): Área Derecho Mercantil (Dpto. Derecho de la Empresa)