The EU’s securities watchdog will be armed with crypto data

Representations of the virtual currencies Ripple, Bitcoin, Etherum and Litecoin are seen on a computer motherboard in this illustration picture, February 14, 2018. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – The European Union’s securities watchdog has begun preparations for increased scrutiny of cryptocurrency trading after the bloc agreed innovative rules to regulate what it called the “Wild West” sector, according to a public document contest.

While crypto companies will be licensed by national regulators in the 27-country bloc, the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) will monitor the biggest players. read more

ESMA issued a tender request on Tuesday to suppliers of trading data for cryptocurrency trading, including spot trading and derivatives.

It excludes transactions from the blockchain or distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin.

“Coverage should include all major crypto exchanges and assets so as to provide a fair representation of the crypto market landscape,” ESMA said in its announcement.

Regulators use trading data to detect abuses in markets, discover who is on each side of a trade and look for dangerous concentrations of positions that could undermine orderly markets.

“The data should be available on a daily basis and include access to order books where you can see spreads and liquidity across exchanges and trading pairs (in fiat and crypto),” it said.

The contract has a maximum value of 100,000 euros.

Report by Huw Jones. Editor: Kim Coghill

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