French regulator aims to speed up crypto licensing

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The French market regulator wants to speed up the mandatory licensing of cryptocurrency service providers.

Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, the head of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), said Monday, January 9 at a conference that this change should be made before the entry into force of European regulations related to cryptography , which should happen. in 2024, Bloomberg reported Monday.

The AMF offers an optional licensing scheme which was launched in 2019, but no crypto service providers have signed up for it. Instead, more than 50 of these companies have obtained registration with the AMF, which is less stringent, according to the report.

Barbat-Layani said the license mirrors that of the traditional financial sector and provides protection for investors, according to the report.

At the same time, Barbat-Layani said the AMF does not oppose financial innovation only fraud, according to the report.

One should not conclude that technological innovation in the financial sector is inherently bad, Barbat-Layani said, according to the report. Madoff didn’t condemn traditional finance, FTX shouldn’t condemn digital finance.

With these comments, the AMF reinforces those of the Governor of the Banque de France, François Villeroy de Galhau, who said that France should impose a licensing requirement without waiting for the entry into force of European rules, according to the report.

A bill making the crypto license mandatory is due to be discussed in the country’s lower house of parliament this month and would implement the requirement by October, according to the report.

As PYMNTS reported on December 30, the European Union (EU) Regulation on Crypto Asset Markets (MiCA) is expected to pass this year following the postponement of a vote originally scheduled for December 2022.

MiCA is a dedicated legal instrument to regulate the crypto space, filled with a detailed taxonomy of the different types of crypto assets it covers.

Blockchain is attracting the attention of governments around the world as regulators seek to constrain fraudsters, limit its impact on the environment, and protect investors and enthusiasts from the technology’s potential downsides.

The EU and US are currently taking the lead in blockchain regulation while other countries, such as China, have taken the simplest step of banning it altogether, according to Is Regulation Friend or Foe for Blockchain ? the October/November 2022 edition of the PYMNTS Blockchain Payments Tracker series.

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