Because the European Fee completed its public session on cryptocurrency belongings in March, France’s main monetary regulator stepped in to specific its stance on the matter.
The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), the inventory market regulator in France, has revealed an official response to the EC session, outlining some fundamental proposals concerning their very own imaginative and prescient for crypto belongings throughout the EC’s strategy.
It’s too early to ascertain a classification of crypto belongings
In an April 7 assertion, the AMF argued that the classification of crypto belongings must be based mostly on the present classes in an effort to differentiate between crypto belongings that qualify as monetary devices and people that don’t.
In line with a report by Finance Magnates, the AMF additionally famous that it’s nonetheless too early to ascertain a exact classification of crypto belongings. The regulator reportedly defines any crypto asset as a “digital asset which will depend upon cryptography and exists on a distributed ledger.”
AMF raises issues over international stablecoins
Alongside remarks concerning the classification of crypto belongings, the French regulator additionally proposed to undertake particular provisions for stablecoins — a kind of cryptocurrency that’s designed to keep up a steady market value via a peg to a different asset or basket of belongings.
Echoing France’s opposition to Fb’s proposed Libra digital foreign money, the AMF outlined its issues over the influence of the stablecoin on the financial system. The regulator wrote:
“This proposal would permit a regulatory framework to use to any stablecoin no matter its measurement […] Nevertheless, this requires the power to attract a line between stablecoins which might be involved by necessary necessities and different fee tokens solely partially coated by necessary necessities.”
Moreover, the AMF expressed its supportive stance towards the creation of an interbank settlement asset in central financial institution cash to facilitate delivery-versus-payments processes on-chain. Within the official discover, the regulator additionally proposed to create a digital lab on the European stage to check safety token-related tasks in an effort to overcome the regulatory obstacles.
Cointelegraph contacted the AMF with further queries however didn’t obtain a direct response. This story shall be up to date ought to they reply.
France is testing its central financial institution digital foreign money
The EC launched its public session for establishing a European framework for markets in crypto belongings on Dec. 19, 2019. Open till March 19, 2020, the session goals to offer readability to the classification of crypto belongings in addition to define potential makes use of of crypto and blockchain expertise in an effort to promote digital finance in Europe.
French authorities have been paying shut consideration to crypto and blockchain-based developments to date. On March 30, France’s central financial institution formally launched a program to check the combination of a central financial institution digital foreign money for interbank settlements. Earlier in March, the AMF introduced that it was contemplating a regulatory sandbox meant to check the influence of safety tokens within the European Union.