Big Euro Changes for Crypto, Barclays Talks up ‘$3-19Bn’ Facebook Coin

Politicians in Europe look increasingly likely to firm up cryptocurrency regulations.

In Germany, Antje Tillmann, the chief finance spokesperson for the largest political parties in the Bundestag, the CDU/CSU alliance, has called for a “legal framework” for the country’s cryptocurrency exchanges and initial coin offerings (ICOs) conducted in Germany.

Tillmann is part of the Bundestag’s policy-making Finance Committee, and her motion was backed by fellow CDU/CSU MP and committee member Matthias Hauer. Per an official CDU/CSU statement, the duo claimed that the proposed measures would help foster Germany’s cryptocurrency and blockchain sectors.

They lamented, “Even though Germany has produced many blockchain startups, we have seen an increasing outflow of promising companies to both European and non-European countries for some time now. Meanwhile, [German] ICOs are almost exclusively taking place overseas.”

Tillmann and Hauer’s statement concluded that “instead of accepting the status quo,” a new government blockchain policy “should provide an appropriate legal framework” for “cryptocurrency trading and digital tokens.”

However, across the border in France, the head of the Bundestag finance committee’s counterpart last week published an exhaustive report full of proposed cryptocurrency regulations that may come as a concern for the country’s crypto-community.

The document contains recommendations for ICO, crypto-tax, VAT and crypto-mining regulations. Of more concern to some crypto-enthusiasts is the committee’s proposed blanket ban on privacy-enabling coins – specifically calling out the likes of Monero, PIVX, DeepOnion and Zcash. (Meanwhile, in the US, a member of the Texas House of Representative has recently introduced a bill to ban the anonymous use of cryptocurrencies in the state.)

In other news, an analyst from UK bank Barclays has told clients that its “upside case” forecast for a potential Facebook Coin token could result in the social media giant raking in some USD 19 billion in additional revenue by 2021.

CNBC quotes Barclay’s Ross Sandler as saying that if reports of Facebook’s forthcoming cryptocurrency are indeed true, the company stands to make at least USD 3 billion from its venture within the same timeframe, and notes, “Merely establishing this revenue stream starts to change the story for Facebook shares in our view.”

You can read more about the potential implications of a Facebook token here.

Meanwhile, as reported, Telegram’s much-anticipated Gram cryptocurrency could be worth USD 29.5 billion by year’s end.