Most Europeans Want Local Governments to Regulate Crypto, Not The EU: Survey

According to recent research, around 60% of Europeans prefer their own countries to regulate digital assets rather than the European Union. Interestingly, a growing number of people believe the creation of national digital currencies would grant their nations some financial independence from the EU.

Crypto Regulations Coming from The EU Is Not Preferable

A survey conducted among 31,000 participants from 12 different countries – all part of the European Union – revealed that the vast majority, around 60%, would want their own authorities to regulate cryptocurrencies. On the other hand, roughly 25% believe that the EU would serve as a better watchdog.

Taking a closer look, the residents of the Netherlands and those of Estonia are the biggest supporters of their own governments, with respectively 76% and 70%. On the contrary, Spain, Poland, and Latvia registered the lowest figure in that statistics – 50%. The Iberian county is also the biggest proponent of the European Union, with 36% of the local participants answering they would like to see crypto regulations coming from it.

It is worth noting that a rising proportion of the European population is in favor of the creation of national digital currencies as an option to gain monetary independence from the EU. Italy (41%), Greece (40%), and Estonia (39%) are the top three countries in that statistic, while 37% of the Dutch think the opposite.

Dimitar Lilkov – a Research Officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels – opined that the Netherlands is one of those nations that should be supportive of the European Union’s native currency:

“For a county like Greece or the Netherlands to opt for a national digital currency different from the euro (a hypothetical e-drachma or e-Guilder), this would mean seceding from the Eurozone. This will not happen.”

Europe Needs to Regulate Crypto ASAP

While the aforementioned research showed that the majority of Europeans do not want the EU to regulate operations with cryptocurrencies, the Head of the French Central Bank – François Villeroy de Galhau – opined rather differently.

The Governor of Banque de France claimed that the European Union needs to build a regulatory framework around cryptocurrencies to preserve its financial dominance:

“Whether it is digital currencies or payments, we in Europe must be ready to act as quickly as necessary, or take the risk of an erosion of our monetary sovereignty.”

The banker stressed that the international performance of the euro is also threatened if the EU does not step up with the regulatory changes. In his opinion, the move should be implemented in the upcoming months, or the organization would “lose its momentum:”

“I must stress here the urgency: we do not have much time left, one or two years.”