The very first batch of the use cases of blockchain to debut in the regulatory sandbox of the European Union was introduced formally on the 3rd of July. This followed a pretty long wait, with 90 applications having been submitted in April. This was first disclosed in 2020, wherein the initiative aims at bridging the regulatory gap between crypto companies and European nations.
According to the European Commission, around 20 projects have been primarily selected in the initial cohort, with major companies in the capital and financial markets, telecoms and information technology, transportation, global trade, and multiple cross-sectoral projects that lead the group. The projects are being spread across the main five European regions, which include Western Europe with 14 use cases, Nordics and Central Europe with eight projects, Southern Europe with 10 projects, and Eastern Europe with around seven projects.
European Union Is Trying To Develop The Regulatory Sandbox
The plans of setting up a regulatory sandbox were first announced by the EC, the European Union, and the European Blockchain Partnership in 2020. The goal, as mentioned by the Commission, is to create a dialogue between the public authorities, crypto projects, and regulators. The EC mentioned that in the dialogues, the use case developers will be able to present their business case to receive legal guidance from the regulators.
This regulatory sandbox is said to work in conjunction with the rest of the frameworks, especially the European Union Digital Finance Platform and the Artificial Intelligence Sandboxes that will be implemented through the AI Act. According to this Commission, the integration is pretty crucial, considering the increasing convergence of innovative technologies in use cases that often involve several industry sectors.
