EU securities watchdog to arm itself with crypto data

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union’s securities watchdog has begun preparations for elevated scrutiny of crypto transactions after the bloc agreed groundbreaking guidelines to manage what it known as a “Wild West” sector, a public tender doc confirmed.

Whereas cryptoasset companies shall be licensed by nationwide regulators within the 27-country bloc, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will monitor the larger gamers.

ESMA put out a public procurement request on Tuesday to suppliers of buying and selling knowledge on crypto transactions, together with spot trades and derivatives.

It excludes transactions from blockchain or the distributed ledger expertise which underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.

“The protection ought to embody all main exchanges and crypto property in order that it gives a good illustration of the crypto market panorama,” ESMA mentioned in its discover.

Regulators use transactions knowledge to identify abuses in markets, discover out who’s on either side of a transaction, and search for dangerous construct ups of positions which might undermine orderly markets.

“Information ought to be obtainable with every day frequency and embrace entry to order books the place to see spreads and liquidity throughout exchanges and buying and selling pairs (in fiat and crypto),” it mentioned.

The contract is value a most of 100,000 euros.

(Reporting by Huw Jones; Modifying by Kim Coghill)