How Europe’s blockchain sandbox ties innovation to regulation

The European Blockchain Sandbox has been put forward as an example of how early regulation and structured engagement can support technological development. After three cohorts of confidential dialogues the initiative produced a 230-page best practices report and involved nearly 125 regulators and authorities.

The European Commission appointed law firm Bird & Bird and its consortium partners to run the programme, matching blockchain use cases with regulators to address legal obstacles. Marjolein Geus, a partner at Bird & Bird, said the process shows compliance need not deter projects.

“For use case owners, it helps them better understand the relevant regulations and how those rules apply to their projects,” she said.

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