Crypto regulation to become global reality this year, PwC says

Crypto regulation will become more defined this year as legislation progresses from draft to law worldwide, PwC, one of the "Big Four" global accounting firms, said in its Global Crypto Regulation Report. Countries with more transparent crypto rules will lead the industry, it said.

The environment will be defined less by regulatory debate and more by execution and competition between jurisdictions to attract capital and legitimacy, according to the report, which also identified a trend toward increased cross-border coordination to improve international market integrity, financial crime prevention and investor protection.

Global regulatory collaborative momentum is accelerating, and with it, the pace of institutional adoption of cryptocurrency, Matt Blumenfeld, PwC’s global and U.S. head of digital assets, said in the report.

“Regulation is no longer a constraint; it's actively reshaping markets and enabling digital assets to become the architecture that allows them to scale responsibly,” he said. “This collaboration aims to foster safe innovation and interoperability in the global digital finance ecosystem.”

For crypto firms, the shift means higher compliance costs, and also clearer rules that could unlock new products, banking access and deeper institutional participation.

In the European Union (EU), market participants are adapting to requirements for authorization, reserves and governance resulting from the the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, the report said. The block is also preparing for the potential introduction of a digital euro, a stance that conflicts with the U.S., where President Donald Trump opposes a central bank digital currencies (CBDC),

In the U.S., where the CLARITY Act is suffering delays over bankers’ opposition to stablecoin yields, the focus is on dollar-pegged cryptocurrency payments and leveraging stablecoins to prop up the dollar's global dominance.

The U.K. is likely to experience a major evolution as it moves crypto-asset activities under a full authorization regime based on the Financial Services and Markets Act (FSMA). The country has developed a framework aimed at enhancing investor protections and establishing a dual oversight model for payment stablecoins, shared between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Switzerland are also solidifying their virtual asset regimes, the report said.

“The winners will be those who build compliance, resilience, and transparency into their core operations,” Michael Huertas, a partner at PwC Legal, said in the report.