MILAN, Jan 23 Reuters The European Commission is investigating the extent to which EU rules on crypto assets protect the redemption rights of the bloc39;s investors in identical emoney tokens EMTs, the value of which is pegged to that of a single official currency.

France39;s Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution ACPR, the country39;s banking and insurance supervisor, last year asked the European Banking Authority to establish whether it would be possible to have technically identical and fully fungible EMTs issued by both an entity licensed in the European Union and by another elsewhere not subject to EU rules.

The EBA then turned the matter over to the EU Commission as it is a matter of interpretation of EU law.

The EU in 2023 adopted an extensive set of rules for crypto assets, known as MiCAR, under which issuers of EMTs must receive supervisory clearance to operate and hold reserves, including as bank deposits, against tokens sold to ensure they can repay investors when required to.

In the United States, President Donald Trump has vowed to ease the regulatory burden faced by cryptocurrency companies, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this week creating a task force to work on new rules.

Some issuers operate both within and outside the EU. For example, Circle, whose U.S. dollarpegged 39;USDC39; is the world39;s second largest stablecoin by market value, operates in the EU as Circle SAS. USDC issued by Circle SAS are fully fungible with…