Honorable mention: France’s new crypto regulation

With somewhat of a late response, the French regulator is en route to introduce a set of ICO-specific legislation as well. Given France’s recent focus on developing an increasingly friendlier startup ecosystem, the country has now directed its efforts towards incubating blockchain and FinTech in order to play the ‘catch-up’ game. During the 2018 G20 meeting, France had announced it has its eyes on becoming a ‘blockchain pioneer’.

Currently, France makes up for just over 2% of global ICO volume, with projects having raised a total of ~80 mln. USD as of September 2018, without much legal ado. The new regime will enhance legal certainty in the area and provide clearer definitions on the terms ‘tokens’ and ‘ICO’. The changes in the French Monetary and Financial Code can be seen in Article 26 of the proposed framework. See

Moreover, token issuers will also be able to file for a license with the French Financial Market Authority. The process is purely voluntary, but issuers will most likely gravitate towards it as it will essentially act as a governmental stamp of approval.

Besides the requirement of drawing up an exact, clear and not misleading Whitepaper, the new set of legislation will additionally aim to provide a more controlled offering environment — by putting emphasis on the security and transparency measures implemented by ICO teams. Regulators will also look to monitor the outcome of any given ICO as well as follow the development of secondary markets for token trade.

The contents of the proposed amendments to France’s financial system are not yet final so there is much yet to be seen in the European giant. The voluntary licensing practice for example is already being called into question as there are no real sanctions associated therewith, leaving some considerable leeway. One thing is certain though — France is one of Europe’s biggest countries and financial markets and their approach will definitely have an impact on the whole European ICO ecosystem.