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(5) At the same time, regulatory gaps exist due to legal, technological and operational specificities related to the use of distributed ledger technology and to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments. For instance, there are no transparency, reliability or safety requirements imposed on the protocols and ‘smart contracts’ that underpin crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments. The underlying technology could also raise some novel forms of risk that are not adequately addressed by the existing rules. Several projects for the trading of crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments and related post-trading services and activities have been developed in the Union, but few are already in operation, and those that are in operation are of limited scale. Furthermore, as highlighted by the European Central Bank’s (ECB) Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Securities and Collateral and its Advisory Group on Market Infrastructures for Payments, the use of distributed ledger technology would entail similar challenges to those faced by conventional technology, such as fragmentation and interoperability issues, and would potentially also create new issues, for instance in relation to the legal validity of tokens. Given the limited experience as regards the trading of crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments and related post-trading services and activities, it is currently premature to significantly modify Union financial services legislation to enable the full deployment of such crypto-assets and their underlying technology. At the same time, the creation of financial market infrastructure for crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments is currently constrained by requirements embedded in Union financial services legislation that are not well suited to crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments or the use of distributed ledger technology. For instance, platforms for trading crypto-assets usually give direct access to retail investors, whereas traditional trading venues usually give access to retail investors only through financial intermediaries.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-10-13 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.