Changes between two versions
What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report
From · draft committee report· 19 Feb 2026
on digital assets – challenges for the competitiveness and integrity of the European Union’s financial system
To · plenary report· 26 Jun 2026
on digital assets – challenges for the competitiveness and integrity of the European Union’s financial system
AI:What changed, in short
The report expands on the potential of DLT and tokenisation for EU capital markets, adding calls for regulatory revisions and international cooperation.56 It strengthens language on stablecoin risks and welcomes euro-denominated e-money tokens, while addressing legal certainty for multi-issuance.89 It adds a reference to the new US administration's openness to crypto-assets and its legislative actions.4 Other changes are formal: corrected regulation numbers, updated footnotes, and renumbering.23710
6 changes of substance · 4 formal · 0 of wording only
Written by AI from the two texts only · read the changes before relying on it · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Changes to the text itself, in document order. Cover page, citations and punctuation-only edits are left out; they are under “Every difference”.
Changes of substance · 6
Change 1 Substance
AI summary:Updates market data and adds a sentence on expected growth in stablecoin issuance.
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Changed:B. whereas the total global market capitalisation of crypto-assets stood at EUR 2.03 trillion on 10 February 2026 with a market share of 12.9 % for stablecoins,%, or EUR 261 billion, basedfor onstablecoins, according to private data sources; whereas, according to ECB Working Paper No 3199, market expectations indicate robust growth in stablecoin issuance;
Change 4 Substance
AI summary:Adds a statement that the new US administration is more open to crypto-assets and has adopted key legislation.
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Changed:H. whereas the new US administration is significantly more open towards crypto-assets, which has led to the adoption of key legislation and a more lenient approach to enforcement by supervisory authorities; whereas the regulatory approach in the United States remains under development and US policymakers and regulators generally refer instead to ‘digital assets’, commonly understood to encompass cryptographically digital representations of value or rights secured in a distributed ledger, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and certain tokenised instruments;
Change 5 Substance
AI summary:Replaces paragraph 2 with new paragraphs on DLT potential, regulatory challenges, and commitment to targeted revision; adds paragraph 4 on innovation-friendly environment.
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Removed:2. Emphasises that the emergence of new technologies poses new challenges for the regulatory and supervisory framework;
Added:2. Underlines that DLTs and asset tokenisation have the potential to support the objectives of the Savings and Investment Union by facilitating cross-border investment, reducing market fragmentation and enabling more efficient and inclusive capital market infrastructure across the EU; underlines the critical role of interoperability;
Removed:3. Underlines the potential innovation and connectivity capabilities of cryptographically secured distributed ledgers and similar technologies for financial services infrastructure, both within the EU and for the EU’s global role;
Added:3. Emphasises that the emergence of new technologies in finance poses new challenges for the regulatory and supervisory framework; notes the diversity of digital assets and recognises that the associated risks and business potential differ from one category to another; affirms its commitment to the targeted revision of EU regulatory frameworks to develop robust, digital-asset-enabled EU capital markets and payment infrastructure; urges the Commission to assess the necessity and feasibility of regulating crypto-asset lending and borrowing, including staking, non-fungible tokens and decentralised finance, under MiCAR;
Added:4. Underlines the potential innovation and connectivity capabilities of cryptographically secured distributed ledgers and similar technologies for financial services infrastructure, both within the EU and for the EU’s global role; emphasises that a predictable, innovation-friendly regulatory environment will be essential to ensure that investment and technological development remain within the EU and to foster competitiveness and trust in euro-denominated financial infrastructure;
Change 6 Substance
AI summary:Adds paragraphs on EU leadership, enforcement, data capabilities, supervisory dialogue, AML/CFT concerns, tokenisation benefits and risks, and international cooperation.
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Removed:4. Stresses the importance of strengthening data capabilities, in particular with regard to leverage in the crypto industry and interlinkages with the non-banking financial institutions sector;
Added:5. Acknowledges that the EU was among the first jurisdictions to adopt and implement a dedicated regime for crypto-assets, with MiCAR, and to apply DLT technology in the financial sector; calls on the Commission, in close cooperation with the EBA, ESMA, the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AMLA) and national competent authorities, to ensure the effective enforcement of MiCAR; calls on the Member States to refrain from introducing additional requirements and liabilities beyond the frameworks of MiCAR or the Transfer of Funds Regulation5;
Removed:5. Calls on the EBA, the European Securities and Markets Authority, the Authority for Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, the national competent authorities, the ECB and the ESRB to strengthen the supervisory dialogue on significant multi-function groups (MFGs); underlines the need to align the MiCAR policy framework for significant non-bank MFGs;
Added:6. Stresses the importance of strengthening data capabilities, in particular with regard to leverage in the crypto industry and interlinkages with the non-banking financial institutions sector; urges the Commission to further monitor the interconnectedness of crypto-assets with the financial system; notes that unbacked crypto-assets may be prone to additional risks and volatility;
Removed:6. Regrets the role that crypto-assets play in evading anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism regulations and sanctions; stresses the importance of finding a better balance between privacy and transparency in ‘know your customer’ standards and the monitoring of payments;
Added:7. Calls on the EBA, ESMA, AMLA, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority, the national competent authorities, the ECB and the ESRB to strengthen the supervisory dialogue on significant multi-function groups (MFGs); underlines the need to align the MiCAR policy framework for significant non-bank MFGs;
Removed:Tokenisation
Added:8. Recognises that distributed ledger technologies introduce new technological and operational considerations for financial supervisors, including issues related to smart contract security, governance of decentralised networks, cyber-resilience and operational risk management; calls on supervisory authorities to develop sufficient technical expertise to understand and monitor these emerging market infrastructures effectively;
Removed:7. Notes that Recital 3 of Regulation (EU) 2022/858 defines the ‘tokenisation’ of financial instruments as the digital representation of financial instruments on distributed ledgers or the issuance of traditional asset classes in tokenised form to enable them to be issued, stored and transferred on a distributed ledger;
Added:9. Expresses concern about the role that crypto-assets play in evading anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations and sanctions; stresses the importance of strengthening supervisory tools, enforcement, and compliance standards to address AML/CFT risks, including effective ‘know your customer’ standards and the monitoring of payments; underlines that it is important for investigative authorities to use the technology behind crypto-assets to discourage crypto-crimes, and to cooperate with one another on blocking detected or reported illegal transactions;
Removed:8. Welcomes the potential benefits of tokenisation for trading financial assets, such as increased efficiency and transparency, while noting that its vulnerabilities should be monitored; supports the BIS in cross-border payment collaboration;
Added:10. Notes the emergence of hybrid products combining features of crypto-assets and traditional financial instruments, which may create legal uncertainty;
Removed:9. Notes the ongoing discussions on the DLT pilot regime;
Added:Tokenisation of financial instruments
Added:11. Notes that recital 3 of Regulation (EU) 2022/858 defines the ‘tokenisation’ of financial instruments as the digital representation of financial instruments on distributed ledgers or the issuance of traditional asset classes in tokenised form to enable them to be issued, stored and transferred on a distributed ledger;
Added:12. Stresses that the tokenisation of financial assets does not in itself alter the legal nature or core economic characteristics of those assets; emphasises that tokenised financial instruments must grant rights equivalent to those attached to traditional securities in order to prevent regulatory arbitrage and safeguard investor protection;
Added:13. Welcomes the potential benefits of tokenisation for trading financial assets, such as increased efficiency and transparency, reduced counterparty risk and operational costs, smart contracting and improved liquidity through fractional ownership, while noting that its vulnerabilities should be monitored;
Added:14. Urges the Commission to facilitate and encourage tokenisation across financial services, insisting on interoperability and preventing fragmentation by upholding standards throughout the single market and providing infrastructure;
Added:15. Acknowledges the ECB’s efforts to provide solutions, including infrastructure offering an option for wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) that allows the cash and asset leg to be settled within a shared ledger, complementary to tokenised commercial bank deposits and stablecoins;
Added:16. Underlines the potential for global connectivity of the European tokenised market; underlines the importance of international cooperation in order to harmonise categorisation criteria, principles and standards; supports the work of the BIS in cross-border payment collaboration initiatives;
Added:17. Welcomes the ongoing discussions on the DLT pilot regime as part of the market integration and supervision package;
2 more changes of substance
Change 8 Substance
AI summary:Changes wording on stablecoin deposit guarantees and adds notes on de-pegging and disintermediation risks.
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Changed:11.19. Notes that stablecoins are a form of private money creation and that their economic function shows similarities to exchange rate pegs, money market funds and narrow banks; stresses, however, that MiCAR prohibits issuers of e-money tokens and crypto-asset service providers from directly or indirectly granting interest in relation to e-money tokens, and that stablecoins do not have direct access to central banks and their holders are not subject tocovered publicby deposit guarantees;guarantee schemes; notes the devaluation riskor ofde-pegging and disintermediation risks associated with stablecoins;
Change 9 Substance
AI summary:Adds paragraphs on euro-denominated e-money tokens, legal certainty for multi-issuance, payment services agreement, interoperability, and digital euro.
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Removed:12. Acknowledges the lack of legal certainty in EU law regarding the possibility of the multi-issuance of stablecoins by an EU and a non-EU entity, where the digital stablecoins issued by both entities are fully fungible and indistinguishable; calls on the Commission to come forward with a legislative proposal urgently on this matter to ensure legal certainty, and to provide strong prudential safeguards, robust cooperation arrangements, and enhanced crisis management protocols;
Added:20. Welcomes the emergence of euro-denominated e-money tokens under MiCAR and encourages their development to support EU payment innovation, the competitiveness of the EU’s financial markets and the international role of the euro, including through faster and lower-cost cross-border payments, complementary to tokenised deposits and wholesale CBDC; stresses the importance of harmonised liquidity-risk and crisis-management frameworks, including redemption waterfalls and reserve-segregation requirements; notes that the ECB upholds that non-euro denominated stablecoins may pose risks to monetary policy if their usage becomes widespread; expresses caution about the misuse of the ‘reverse solicitation’ clause;
Removed:Other aspects
Added:21. Acknowledges the need for legal certainty in EU law regarding the possibility of the multi-issuance of stablecoins by an EU and a non-EU entity, where the digital stablecoins issued by both entities would be fully fungible and indistinguishable; recalls that the ESRB has warned for multi-issuance as a potential channel of contagion; stresses the need to ensure that the operation of such schemes in the EU is based on legal certainty and a robust regulatory framework providing strong prudential safeguards, robust cooperation arrangements and enhanced crisis management protocols; underlines the importance of promoting international coordination on the regulation and supervision of global stablecoins, with a view to developing international standards;
Removed:13. Underlines that interoperability is crucial in digital finance, requiring, for instance, portable identity and verifiable credentials as enabling components of cross-network market infrastructure; stresses that legal entity identifier/verifiable legal entity identifier-type approaches should be assessed as infrastructure-grade tools;
Added:22. Welcomes the provisional agreement on the proposals for a directive6 and regulation7 on payment services and the simplified authorisation solution for crypto asset service providers already authorised under MiCAR to avoid unnecessary regulatory overlap, which would be subject to a streamlined procedure, while keeping appropriate risk controls and providing only services specified in the application;
Removed:14. Notes the ongoing discussions on the digital euro;
Added:Cross-cutting considerations
Added:23. Underlines that interoperability is crucial in digital finance, requiring, for instance, portable identity and verifiable credentials as enabling components of cross-network market infrastructure; stresses that legal entity identifier/verifiable legal entity identifier-type approaches should be assessed as infrastructure-grade tools; calls on the Commission to work with European and international standards organisations to develop common technical standards and protocols for digital assets, smart contracts and digital identities;
Added:24. Welcomes the ongoing discussions on the digital euro, including the preparations for both retail and wholesale uses, and supports ongoing short-term track (Pontes) and long-term track (Appia) DLT projects for wholesale central bank money settlement; calls on the Commission and the ECB to ensure that future digital euro solutions are designed to facilitate interoperability with DLT infrastructures and ensure complementarity alongside cash;
4 formal changes: legal basis, citations, references, corrections
Change 2 Formal
AI summary:Corrects the regulation number and expands the title of the DLT pilot regime.
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Changed:E. whereas Article 2(1) of Regulation (EU) 2022/85812022/8583on the digital ledger technology pilot regime defines ‘distributed ledger technology’ or ‘DLT’ as ‘a technology that enables the operation and use of distributed ledgers’; whereas Article 2(2) defines a ‘distributed ledger’ as an ‘information repository that keeps records of transactions and that is shared across, and synchronised between, a set of DLT network nodes using a consensus mechanism’;
Change 3 Formal
AI summary:Updates the footnote reference for MiCAR.
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Changed:F. whereas Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 on markets in crypto-assets2crypto-assets4 (MiCAR) establishes a harmonised framework in the EU for crypto-assets by distinguishing between three main categories, namely electronic money tokens, which seek to stabilise their value by referencing a single official currency, asset-referenced tokens, which aim to maintain a stable value by referencing another value or right or a combination thereof, including one or more official currencies, and other crypto-assets, meaning a digital representation of a value or of a right that is able to be transferred and stored electronically using a distributed ledger or similar technology, and do not fall within the other categories;
Change 7 Formal
AI summary:Renumbers paragraph and clarifies the term 'e-money'.
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Changed:10.18. Notes that stablecoins can fall into two categories under the MiCAR legal framework, as asset-referenced tokens and as electronic money (e-money) tokens;
Change 10 Formal
AI summary:Updates paragraph on supervision of crypto-asset service providers to mention ESMA's role.
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Changed:16.26. Notes the ongoing discussions on the supervision of crypto-asset service providers;providers regarding the role of ESMA as part of the market integration and supervision package;