Overview: EU is bullish on blockchain technology

Blockchain technology is revolutionizing the world; as it started with finance, countries have no choice but to adapt to the future or collapse in a failing national economy.

Blockchain technology was originally introduced through its significance in BTC, which sparked the cryptocurrency uprising, that made government officials and regulators nervous. All the benefits and solutions presented by blockchain were in direct competition with national currencies, as governments saw BTC and others as a means to ending their reign. The transparent ledger technology encourages a faster, more secure and more sincere system than ever before. Among the encryption and peer-to-peer applications, the technology hodls a lot of potential in the sectors of cloud storage, public announcements, and records; traceability as well as automation, and more. The endless innovative possibilities offered by blockchain have attracted a great deal of attention for BTC, cryptocurrency and the community, but only as of recently government officials have started to open their closed minds to the unlimited capabilities. Some countries were quicker to realization than others; as China pushes forward with a state-backed crypto and America introduces its regulations, the world is ready to experience the mass benefits of blockchain technology. The EU has always shown a pro-stance and interest towards cryptocurrency, as European crypto regulations remain relatively loose and an EU cryptocurrency is brewing in the background.

Breaking down borders

Many European crypto regulations have shown leniency to those still learning about the digital assets, but some countries have even gone as far as to eliminate fear and regulations altogether.

European crypto regulations are not necessarily a bad thing; they act as a standard to ensure no corruption or criminals can proliferate in the space. They may even make it easier for everyday users to buy and sell soon. While regulations can be comforting, a lot of government officials have used it as a way of controlling their citizens and countries more. It is refreshing to see countries actively learning and thinking about what they can do with technology, but the EU-cryptocurrency relationship still has a long way to go. It has become more defined over the years as the European Commission has presented a proposal stating that all cryptocurrency tokens will be exempt from VAT, but users should and are required to make themselves and custodian wallets known in order to avoid money laundering and/or other crimes. Although an official EU cryptocurrency statement has been given, many countries such as Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and Ireland still operate alongside cryptocurrency in an unregulated state. While unregulated waters may seem risky, government officials in Malta and the Netherlands have come forward to express their interest and enthusiasm in blockchain technology as they progress in their research. We have even seen a few instances of government officials auctioning BTC in Sweden, making almost double profit off one sale. Countries and governments are intrigued by cryptocurrency, as it hodls the potential to progress them significantly or destroy their very power dynamic, so it will be interesting to see how the European crypto regulations adapt as blockchain technology gets further adopted. As most European countries continue with the positive crypto laws and China announces its state-backed digital currency, we see the EU finally moving forward to its own implementation of blockchain technology. With a state-backed cryptocurrency being considered and a dedicated investment scheme being created, there is no saying how far the EU will go to advance the lives of its people.

What's next?

It is unclear what tomorrow hodls, but we can be sure that Europe is currently very excited about the capabilities of blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. The EU recently announced the launch of a developmental fund to combat falling behind in the digital race against China and Libra. The European Commission and the European Investment Fund are making €100 million available for developing a better understanding of blockchain technology and AI. The fund is expected to rise to €2 billion by 2021. This is what the EIF had to say in a blog post on the matter:

"Investing in a portfolio of innovative AI and blockchain companies will help develop a dynamic EU-wide investors community on AI and blockchain. By involving national promotional banks, we can scale up the volume of investments at a national level."

There seems to be a lot of optimism and innovation around blockchain technology coming from Europe as more countries become crypto tax-free and further involved. We hope to see more positive headlines coming from the EU as it ventures forward with its fund.

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