In a new report, the European Securities and Markets Authority
("ESMA")
addressed the need for a uniform set of EU-wide regulations
applicable to Initial Coin Offerings ("ICOs") and other
crypto-assets.
In Advice: Initial Coin Offerings and Crypto-Assets,
ESMA stated it had concerns with respect to transactions in (i)
crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments under the EU
Markets in Financial Instruments Directive ("MiFID") and
(ii) crypto-assets that do not qualify as financial instruments
under MiFID.
For the former, ESMA stated that such instruments would be
subject to existing requirements under applicable EU regulations,
and highlighted issues to be addressed regarding the application of
existing regulations to transactions in crypto-assets.