A patron of digital competition

At the end of January, Google launched a "new dedicated Digital Assets Team". Today, Politico reported that "a group of progressive advocates are pushing Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the head of the House Financial Services Committee, to hold a hearing on Google’s" new blockchain plans. As reported by Politico, differently from Facebook's grand plan with Libra/Diem, Google "is...looking to create a broader blockchain infrastructure that could be used by a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, and stressed that Google doesn’t “want to take sides in backing any specific currency.” Should we worry? Will the DMA protect us? Antitrust and financial minds in particular will likely need to come together to discuss this. If St. Isidore of Seville (painting: as imagined by Murillo) is the unofficial patron saint of the Internet, we could use a patron of digital competition too. Any candidate? 

One step ahead? The Italian Competition Authority sends detailed requests for information to major oil companies

 

After Germany and other countries, the Italian Autorità aims "to investigate the reasons for these increases and, if so, to assess whether there is scope for possible intervention limited only to the hypothesis of a possible infringement of the rules on abuse of a dominant position or agreements restricting competition"