In only one decade, cryptocurrencies have witnessed significant growth, with Bitcoin being the most dominant one. They are not efficient payment methods, although they bring some benefits linked to the underlying technology they use (Blockchain). In reality, they function more as investment assets than as payment instruments and pose various risks, which are very similar to those encountered on capital markets (price volatility, fraud, market manipulation). In order to deal with these risks, regulation should apply to intermediaries who provide services in relation to cryptocurrencies, such as crypto wallets, operation of crypto exchanges and brokerage. To this end, the European legislator should consider two options. It could, on the one hand, bring cryptocurrency service providers within the scope of the existing financial services regime and thus modify MIFID II in order to include cryptocurrencies in the list of financial instruments. The European legislator could also, on the other hand, aim at creating a new appropriate and proportionate regime that draws on the existing one. Insofar as the existing regulatory framework was not designed with cryptocurrencies in mind and as some of the current rules may not be tailored to the specificities of these assets, the second option is preferable.

中文翻译：

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加密货币的法律挑战：不是时候监管中介机构了吗？

在仅仅十年中，加密货币见证了显着增长，其中比特币是最主要的一种。尽管它们带来了一些与其所使用的基础技术相关的好处（区块链），但它们并不是有效的付款方式。实际上，它们更多地充当投资资产而不是支付工具，并带来各种风险，这些风险与资本市场上遇到的风险非常相似（价格波动，欺诈，市场操纵）。为了应对这些风险，监管应适用于提供与加密货币有关的服务的中介机构，例如加密货币钱包，加密货币交易所的运营和经纪业务。为此，欧洲立法者应考虑两种选择。一方面，它可以 将加密货币服务提供商纳入现有金融服务体系的范围内，从而修改MIFID II，以便将加密货币包括在金融工具列表中。另一方面，欧洲立法者也可以旨在建立一个新的，适当的，相称的，以现有制度为基础的制度。如果现有的监管框架在设计时并未考虑到加密货币，并且由于某些当前规则可能未针对这些资产的特殊性进行定制，则第二种选择是可取的。