Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Eva Kaili has revealed that a report on initial coin offerings (ICOs) was being prepared for the European Parliament that would promote their use as a crowdfunding tool.
”We really need [ICOs] when banks are overregulated and projects need liquidity… we must try not to overregulate them and stop innovation,” she said. MEP Kaili made this statement during her keynote address at the ongoing Decentralized 2018 blockchain conference in Athens, Greece.
Following up with Bitcoin News at the conference, she reported that the Parliament had recently facilitated the release of EUR 700 million for startup projects that can show they provide ”great solutions” with blockchain.
However, she did acknowledge the number of scams that certainly exist within the ICO market but believes these can be avoided by properly analyzing the white paper: ”I have seen people buy for the hype but on the white paper, it states they own nothing… Fraud is fraud. We don’t need regulation to stop that.”
MEP Kaili also told Bitcoin News that she believes European countries like France and Malta have the most progressive and effective blockchain legislation, while others beyond Europe are emerging as strong contenders for leadership in the industry.
She said that through her travels, she has seen France impose itself as a significant leader in blockchain regulation, with the country ”trying to proceed very fast”. Malta is also producing progressive legislation, she added. Outside of Europe, both Barbados and Singapore are leading the way, as well as Switzerland which she described as ”a staple one; it has always been very fast in the financial sector to adapt to the changes”.
Discussing her recent legislative work, MEP Kaili that she has just finished the Blockchain Resolution – a work in progress since 2015 when she first became aware and interested in the technology. She pushed for the resolution in the European Parliment after becoming concerned with potential resistance to blockchain from ”the systems that failed us”, referencing the financial systems that contributed to the 2008 economic crisis and her home country of Greece’s own economic turbulence.
Now, Kaili’s efforts are focused on creating non-restrictive regulation for artificial intelligence (AI). She spoke about the potential of blockchain and AI synergy, to which she declared, ”I think will be very exciting.”
On blockchain, she noted that “It can solve problems but not all the problems, I would say it is more of a philosophy”, citing that there were still issues regarding scalability, energy efficiency, and the protection of data, although believes they will be “figured out quite soon”.
The Greek MEP was the keynote speaker at Decentralized 2018 hosted by the University of Nicosia. It ends tomorrow on 16 November 2018.
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Image Courtesy: Amelia Trapp, Bitcoin News
