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# Recital 4

*In force · Regulation (EU) 2022/858, OJ L 151, 2.6.2022 · Checked against EUR-Lex on 26 Oct 2026 · [Official source](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2022/858/oj/eng)*

Union financial services legislation was not designed with distributed ledger technology and crypto-assets in mind, and contains provisions that potentially preclude or limit the use of distributed ledger technology in the issuance, trading and settlement of crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments. Currently, there is also a lack of authorised financial market infrastructures which use distributed ledger technology to provide trading or settlement services, or a combination of such services, for crypto-assets that qualify as financial instruments. The development of a secondary market for such crypto-assets could bring multiple benefits, such as enhanced efficiency, transparency and competition in relation to trading and settlement activities.