Jan 16 (Reuters) - Major markets like the United States need new legal definitions of digital assets to provide regulatory clarity for the sector, Jeremy Allaire, chief executive of USDC stablecoin issuer Circle, said on Monday.
Allaire said that blockchain technology itself should be viewed similarly to an operating system, while individual use cases should be regulated separately.
"New definitions... would help provide more clarity on which regulators are involved in which activity," Allaire told Reuters Global Markets Forum on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos.
The European Union is leading the development of digital asset regulations, he said, with the region Markets in Cryptoassets (MiCA) rules are expected to come into force in 2024.
"We are quite optimistic that MiCA will create the conditions for a thriving competitive market in the EU," Allaire said.
Circle plans to add its euro-backed stablecoin, which launched in 2021 from its US entity, as MiCa rolls out, Allaire added, and the firm plans to look into other possible digital currency offerings.
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Reporting by Divya Chowdhury in Davos and Lisa Mattackal in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Tom Wilson in London; Edited by David Evans
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