The European Blockchain Association is happy to announce that Erwin Voloder, an expert in Web3 and crypto regulations, has joined the team as Senior Policy Fellow! Erwin adds invaluable expertise at the regulatory and economic intersections of decentralized networks, Blockchain technologies, crypto currencies, and the existing centralized world of politics and the top-down business environmemt.
Erwin Voloder explains how he will support the European Blockchain Association:
Europe is at a cross-roads when it comes to DLT innovation. One that will determine whether we remain a hub for new business models to bloom or whether we witness an exodus of talent to other places.
According to a new Chainalysis ‘geography of crypto report,’ West Europe is the world’s largest crypto economy. Southern Europe is catching up rapidly with start-ups and incumbents across the entire continent launching projects and use cases in the web3, and Trad-fi space which build on blockchain.
There are even hints at a budding metaverse strategy coming from the European Commission. MiCA is ready for entry into force with many pertinent questions related to Crypto-Asset Service Providers, Anti-Money Laundering, and asset-referenced tokens agreed on. What remains as the proverbial elephant in the room is how to bring staking and lending into the regulatory perimeter. This means that decentralized finance is the likely next shoe to drop.
Questions around how best to regulate DeFi and the web3 ecosystem more generally are multifaceted. For this reason it remains prudent to proceed with caution. There is no one size fits all approach which means that policy makers around the EU at varying levels of national and supranational government need constant feedback and engagement from industry. This is why I am excited to announce that I am taking up the role of Senior Policy Fellow with the European Blockchain Association.
As Senior Economist I focused on web3 research, also having the privilege to represent the EBA at various conferences over the past year. I look forward to continuing as an ambassador for our organization in the public fora while also engaging more closely with policy makers and industry on the crucial touchpoints that may define Europe’s web3 future.
Our members are a diverse body of companies building unique and exciting products while solving complicated and pressing challenges across socioeconomic lines. They, like others in the space are also at the vanguard of how regulatory developments can shape (for better or worse) the environment in which business operates. Therefore, I also look forward to working with our EBA members in addressing their questions and concerns and working together to amplify their voices. We welcome other organizations, builders and projects who believe in blockchain and part of my role is to bring new voices and new ideas into the EBA.
Europe has an early start. We are the first advanced economy to put on paper a concrete strategy for regulating the digital asset space. But the mosaic remains incomplete. In order to retain that competitive advantage it will take education and true public-private partnership where all stakeholders have a clear picture of what we can achieve when we work together and what is at stake if we don’t. We at the European Blockchain Association are ready to rise to the challenge.