It is more the type of regulation. Permissioned vs Permissionless. Innovators in the EU have to prove that their innovations will not do any harm, especially to established businesses, before they are allowed to operate. EU regulators have a preferred outcome in mind when they pass regulations. E.g green energy above nuclear or gas. Programmable cryptocurrencies above Bitcoin. "When public policy discourages risk-taking and actively regulates to disallow permissionless innovation, the result is less entrepreneurialism, diminished competition, fewer consumer choices, and stagnated economic growth." — Adam Thierer