States belonging to the European Union have approved the world’s first comprehensive set of rules to regulate cryptoassets.
The rules, which had been thrashed out with the European Parliament in April, puts pressure on countries such as Britain and the United States to catch up.
The rules are expected to be rolled out from 2024.
The rules require firms that want to issue, trade and safeguard cryptoassets, tokenised assets and stablecoins in the 27 country bloc to obtain a license.
The rules also require service providers to obtain the name of senders and beneficiaries in crypto assets, regardless of the amount being transferred.
There was also agreement on amending rules on how member countries cooperate in taxation to cover transactions in crypto-assets, and on exchanging information on advance tax rulings for the wealthiest individuals.
