Grayscale, the world’s largest digital asset manager, plans to expand its business in the European crypto market with $30 billion in assets under management. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein stated that the countries and exchanges with which they will collaborate have yet to be decided. Sonnenshein stated in an interview on April 26 that he is now in discussions with local partners about the timing. Pilot tests in local marketplaces are also on the table for digital asset management.
He continued:
“Although the EU is unified, we don’t view the entire European market as one market. Instead, we’re going to be very thoughtful and very methodical about each of the financial centres and financial hubs that we ultimately launch in, because we recognise the differentiation of investor behaviours and attitudes and of regulatory regimes.”
In Europe, Grayscale will face fierce competition. In Western Europe, more than 80 exchange-traded crypto products have already been established, with over $7 billion in assets under management. Officials from the European Central Bank are also pushing for stricter regulations in the crypto market “wild west.” Officials at the European Central Bank are concerned about the expanding use of cryptocurrencies. On the matter, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, a member of the French Governing Council, stated:
“Unregulated crypto would mean regression and a turn back to private fragmentation. This is really the last thing we need in our world.”
Villeroy also remarked that banks should innovate while also contributing to crypto legislation.
According to Fabio Panetta, digital assets are creating a “new Wild West,” a member of the European Central Bank’s executive board. He then linked the current situation to the subprime mortgage sector, which he claimed was the spark for the global financial crisis in 2008. At the same time, the European Central Bank is planning to bring the Digital Euro CBDC to market by the middle of this decade.
