KDEC 6070 - Global regulation of crypto-assets markets - EU/US

ayment systems have evolved from a very traditional topic to a tool wielding considerable geopolitical power. The new world order, facing political crises and wars very close to Europe, has brought the importance of the “plumbing” underlying international payment systems, with their implications ranging from terrorist financing to enforcement of sanctions, to light. Additionally, crypto assets, their issuers, and intermediaries running platforms have changed how we conceptualize markets for payment instruments. This course engages with these issues on a global basis, comparing the EU and the US framework.

It delves into developments in crypto assets markets which we understand as constantly intensifying. We start out with (i) the example of FTX, a major crypto trading platforms failure, and (ii) an increasing number of regulatory inquiries and enforcement actions against crypto players. We move on to (iii) key legislative achievements (such as the European Regulation on Markets in Crypto-Assets (“MiCAR”), the U.S. GENIUS Act, and the (for now: pending) CLARITY Act.

In Europe it seems that we have reached a turning point where native crypto players will have to take the regulatory route if they want to maintain their core business and compete with traditional finance players. Where does crypto regulation stand? What type of strategic policy approaches have been taken in the EU and in the US to regulate crypto assets related activities? How do they differ? What has been the role of international regulatory standards in that sphere?

The course will be taught by Katja Langenbucher and Jennifer D’hoir.

Katja is a law professor at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability at Goethe-University's House of Finance in Frankfurt, affiliated professor at Sciences Po, Paris, and long-term guest professor at Fordham Law School, NYC. Jennifer started her career with the French financial regulator (Autorité des marchés financiers) and led the European Regulatory team at Kraken before joining Sorare as Director of Global Public Policy and, most currently, Circle as Associate General Counsel, Regulatory Strategy for the EMEA region.

Departing from the FTX scandal, the class will provide a comparative law analysis on EU and US crypto regulation. The class will successively discuss :

● Introduction – the FTX scandal

● Where it all began – EU Crypto regulation genesis

● The catalyst of EU Crypto regulation – Libra & Facebook

● From the 19th century to today: US evolution of capital markets and banking regulation

● The U.S. players on the regulatory market: Federal and state law, federal agencies

● The regulation of crypto assets and crypto asset service providers under MiCAR

● The regulation of stablecoins under the GENIUS Act and the CLARITY Act

The class will be graded based on a written exam (2h) with two questions to answer.