France under pressure to tighten crypto -friendly regulations

France is under pressure to close a gap in the new crypto rules, which would give him a longer grace period to tempt digital-asset companies to settle down with minimal regulatory supervision in the country.

Hervé Maurey, a member of the influential financial commission of the Senate, has proposed a change in law to delete a clause that would enable registered crypto companies to work in Germany by 2026 without complete official license.

his step increases the pressure on the government and its supervisory authorities because of the crypto -friendly attitude of France. Stricter EU regulations will come into force in 2024, but France plans to maintain its current regulation for another 18 months.

The concerns of the critics have increased this year during a market cleanup in which the prices of popular tokens have dropped greatly, which was tightened by the collapse of Sam Bankman-Frieds FTX crypto empire last month. US prosecutors filed a criminal complaint against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday.

France has tried to make one of the most attractive countries for crypto companies to settle down and attract companies such as the stock exchange operator Binance to Paris.

The current regime allows crypto companies to register in France without receiving a full license, which means that they can work with minimal controls.

"The FTX collapse was a detonation [that] contributed to a moment of billing and consciousness," said Maurey of the Financial Times. "This caused a number of players within the French system to consider that things would have to be monitored more strictly."

his proposal would force companies to receive a license from the French regulatory authority authorité from the Marchés Financier (AMF) from October next year. In contrast to registration, a license offers consumer protection and requires more information about your financial health and control systems. About 50 crypto companies are registered, but none has yet been given a license.

critics say that the current French system means that consumers could incorrectly consider crypto companies to be actively supervised by regulatory authorities. "In reality, the protection that this registration offers is very low, if not not available," said Thierry Philipponnat, who had resigned from the AMF board in October.

"Players like Binance obviously use the [AMF regime] as a marketing tool."

Binance did not comment on the change. In an explanation at the end of November, it said: "We are not satisfied with more than that, as this is the highest thing that a crypto-asset service provider can currently get."

The change that was accepted by the Senate on Tuesday will be checked by the French parliament in January next year. So far, the French government has spoken out against the text and argues that an accelerated implementation could deter investors.

France Adan, a crypto lobby group, said that the proposed changes were a sign that the country "gives up his ambition" to become a crypto hub and accused the country to "give up an industry of the future".

"We always realized that registered players were very easy to regulate and we called up investors for the highest vigilance," said the Amf.

After the failure of FTX, French MP Aurore Lalucq Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire warned in a letter that under the current system "platforms are able to play on it [regulatory] ambivalence".

The Ministry of Finance announced the FT that the causes and consequences of FTX's bankruptcy "follow" with great attention ".