EU securities watchdog begins scrutiny of cryptocurrency transactions

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EU securities watchdog begins scrutiny of cryptocurrency transactions

After the bloc agreed on new rules to regulate what it called the Wild West sector, the European Union's securities watchdog has begun preparations for greater scrutiny of transactions of cryptocurrencies, according to a public tender document.

The European Securities and Markets Authority ESMA will monitor the bigger players as they license firms to be licensed by national regulators in the 27 country bloc.

The ESMA issued a public procurement request on Tuesday to suppliers of trading data on cryptocurrencies transactions, including spot trades and derivatives.

It does not include transactions from the distributed ledger technology that underpins cryptocurrencies likeBitcoin.

The coverage should include all major exchanges and cryptocurrencies, so that it provides a fair representation of the market landscape, ESMA said in its notice.

Regulators use transactions data to spot abuses in markets, find out who is on each side of a transaction, and look for risky build ups of positions that could undermine orderly markets.

The data should be available with daily frequency and include access to order books, where you can see spreads and liquidity across exchanges and trading pairs in fiat and criptocurrencies.

The contract is worth 100,000 euros.