from traditional financial instruments or currencies. unbacked crypto - assets have no fundamental value and are not backed by any cash flows, and their price is driven entirely by sentiment. [ 22 ] the two best - known native tokens are bitcoin and ether, the native token of the ethereum blockchain. native tokens are integral to permissionless blockchains as they reward miners or validators for settling transactions by adding new blocks to the chain. the second type of crypto - assets are stablecoins. these are mostly pegged to central bank currencies such as the us dollar. stablecoins have been primarily developed to overcome inefficiencies and reduce costs in the traditional payments system. [ 23 ] although coined as being “ stable ”, the market valuations of stablecoins in fact fluctuate quite significantly. also some stablecoins are not fully audited, and they disclose their reserves on a voluntary basis only. hence, the existence and composition of reserves cannot always be verified. 2. 2 size and market structure the total market capitalisation of all crypto - assets traded on exchanges reached an all - time high of roughly us $ 3 trillion in 2021 ( chart 4 ). in the first half of 2022, prices for crypto - assets collapsed. besides changes in the macroeconomic environment, this price decline reflected the widespread use of leverage. many crypto - asset intermediaries became insolvent, and market capitalisation dropped to us $ 1 trillion in early 2023, or 0. 2 % of global financial assets. chart 4 : market capitalisation of crypto - assets is highly concentrated and low compared to the traditional financial system. the market is highly concentrated. the top six tokens accounted for more than 70 % of market capitalisation. [ 24 ] as regards issuers of stablecoins, 90 % of market capitalisation is concentrated within the three largest entities ( chart 5 ). a large proportion of all crypto - asset trading takes place on just a few platforms. centralised crypto - asset service providers and crypto - asset conglomerates offer many different services simultaneously, such as brokerage, trading, iending, custody, as well as clearing and settlement. this concentration of activities can lead to conflicts of interest and excessive risk - taking though. chart 5 : the market for stablecoins peaked in early 2022, and it is highly concentrated. part of crypto - asset

second, it means no preferential treatment for london beyond existing equivalency arrangements ; this could possibly be improved slightly, as currently planned by the commission. this brings us to my third point : some new capacity will have to be created in the eu, and at the same time the internal market has to be deepened in terms of financial integration. what should happen is that national and regional efforts should be consolidated under the umbrella of a common european strategy to deepen and modernise the internal market for financial services. i firmly believe that digitalisation holds the key to our success. we are all familiar with examples of how smart digital applications have helped to make buying and selling more transparent ( e. g. comparison websites ), to break down language barriers ( e. g. translation services ), to overcome information problems and to build trust ( blockchain applications ). ultimately, the continental financial centres need a strong digital market infrastructure that makes full use of all new digital possibilities. only then they can effectively overcome fragmentation. to sum up, it is my firm view that deepening and modernising the european internal market is the best economic strategy to counter the geopolitical challenges posed by brexit. which brings us to the new european commission. the team of ursula von der leyen will officially go to work in brussels on 1 november 2019. they will shape how the eu approaches our economy ’ s biggest challenges, and they can decisively shape the financial market strategy. von der leyen has nominated valdis dombrovskis for the important role of executive vice3 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches president for an ‘ economy that works for people ’. as such, he will lead the work on deepening economic and monetary union. von der leyen has set the goal for dombrovskis, namely that “ europe ’ s social market economy helps ensure that social fairness and prosperity go hand in hand ” ( quote from ursula von der leyen ’ s mission letter to valdis dombrovskis ). it should also be climate - neutral and work within the ecological boundaries of the planet. the mission letter states the following goals : “ to preserve and improve financial stability, protect savers and investors and ensure the flow of capital to where it is needed. ” to achieve these goals she has identified eight crucial priorities. the new commission aims : to complete the banking union, to speed up the work towards a capital markets union to diversify sources of finance for companies and tackle the barriers