French Crypto Regulation à la carte: Context, News, Perspectives

France has been hard to classify on the crypto lovers/haters spectrum.

On the global crypto map, France illustrated itself with a few successful projects - for example ledger.

"The overall legal and business context is very good. Already when he was Minister of the Economy, Emmanuel Macron launched extensive discussions with the crypto-world in France. What started as the topic of 'mini-bonds', continues today with a flurry of parliamentary discussion groups, and consultations between state agencies such as the AMF and the private sector."

Bruno le Maire seems to have taken a strong pro-blockchain stance at the G20 in Buenos Aires, saying that "France will not miss the blockchain revolution" and calling for France to take on a pioneering role in the development of blockchain internationally.

On December 8, 2017, the government published a decree related to the possibility of transferring financial securities through a blockchain;On December 22, 2017, the AMF - Authority of the Financial Markets - published the results of a public consultation concerning blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and ICOs;On January 15, 2018, French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire created a working group headed by Jean-Pierre Landau with the purpose of regulating cryptocurrencies;On April 26, 2018 the Conseil d'Etat laid out more precise guidelines concerning Bitcoin taxation, which will be revisited later in the article.

Unlike the U.S., where the courts have already dealt with a few blockchain and crypto cases, there is so far no court decision on this matter in France, except for the recent one of the Conseil d'Etat about taxing Bitcoin.

Issue #3: What is the legal framework for ICOs in France?The French ICO industry is still nascent, with volumes a fraction of what can be observed in Switzerland, the U.S., or Singapore.

"France is about to introduce a completely novel framework for ICOs: a voluntary visa system that incorporates much of the 'best practices' advocated for by the French crypto-industry. ICOs that comply with these best practices will thus be able to apply for official approval by the regulator. In effect, this visa will split the ICO market between AMF approved ICOs and unregulated ICOs.".

Issue #4: Taxation of individuals trading crypto-assets in FranceThe majority of French people think there is a 'legal vacuum' concerning the taxation of Bitcoin in France, which is not true.

On the other hand, accounting rules for the treatment of crypto assets, especially in the context of ICOs, still have to be defined.