A differentiated approach to the regulation of cryptoassets

Dr Péter Gárdos

The financial press generally talks about "the" cryptocurrency market as if this was a homogeneous market. For example, when the value of various cryptoassets fell in May and June 2022, the Financial Times wrote about the "crypto bloodbath". ¹ This article will argue that it would be wrong to handle all cryptoassets equally. As taking out loans from a limited number of lenders significantly differs from public bond issuance, and the regulation needs to reflect on this difference, it will be argued that the same is true for cryptoassets. Different cryptoassets have different risk profiles; therefore, the legislator should introduce different rules regulating the issuance of the various cryptoassets. It will also be argued that such a distinction does not seem justified when regulating the cryptoasset service providers (CASPs).