Brussels Edition: Crypto Conundrum

Welcome to the Brussels Edition, Bloomberg’s daily briefing on what matters most in the heart of the European Union.

The European Commission will unveil a major initiative today to regulate crypto assets and bring more digital financial services to citizens. Policy makers have been especially spooked by Facebook’s Libra project, which could potentially reach much wider parts of the population than Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The challenge is to protect consumers as well as the integrity of the financial system without choking off innovation. Officials will also make another push to fix the bloc’s fragmented capital market, which has become more urgent due to the imminent loss of London, its biggest financial hub.