Regulation
Finance Ministry Says No to Additional Funding for Cryptocurrency Regulation
July 29, 2024 Cryptocurrency mining. Photo: Depositphotos.com
The Ministry of Finance has rejected several requests from the Dutch financial sector watchdog AFM for additional funding to monitor the cryptocurrency sector, Financial newspaper reported Monday.
The ministry has also imposed limits on the contributions the AFM can request from the sector itself, the document says, citing government documents obtained through freedom of information legislation.
The AFM says it needs additional funding to meet new responsibilities under EU legislation on the cryptocurrency sector. But the ministry says a government contribution would be “politically unfeasible” and instead wants a minimum level of regulation, which the AFM says is insufficient to allow it to do its job effectively.
The documents, nearly 300 pages in total, show that the finance ministry is not as concerned about cryptocurrency fraud as the AFM. “Given the risks in the cryptocurrency sector… we recommend opting for the minimum scenario,” one document in the document quotes.
Experts and the Trimbos addiction center are surprised by the ministry’s reluctance, telling the newspaper that it will result in “suboptimal supervision.”
THE EU legislation, known as MiCawill come into force at the end of this year.
The AFM told the newspaper that it would focus “on issues where the greatest harm to consumers, investors and market participants exists or could arise,” and declined to comment on the finance ministry’s position.
A ministry spokeswoman said the required capacity had been determined and allocated in close consultation with regulators and that a review would be carried out next year.
Banking Business Cryptocurrency
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