Green digital assets: A comparative approach

This chapter covers regulatory matters as they pertain to green digital assets. This analysis focuses on digital assets and sustainable products in their own right as well as how they overlap in the form of green digital assets. Analysis focuses on each as a growing asset class and the increasing regulatory scrutiny that regulators have introduced to address the macro and micro risks that they present in light of overarching policy imperatives. The analysis in this chapter is focused on the European Union (EU) financial markets regulatory framework. This includes a comparative analysis, in drawing on global developments, particularly from developed financial market jurisdictions such as the Securities and Exchange Commission's approach in the United States, and the United Kingdom government's reviews of policy and legislative intervention options. This analysis considers the various forms this regulation takes in the European Union and the ways in which it supports or impairs the efficacy of achieving policy objectives. Specifically, the core question this chapter addresses is whether green digital asset regulation balances economic efficiency against investor protection in achieving the macro policy outcome of channelling capital to sustainable outcomes in line with the European Green Deal.