France aligns its crypto rules with Europe’s MiCA

Autorité des Marchés Financiers, the French regulator, is all set to amend its crypto rules according to MiCA for crypto firms in France.

The French regulator, Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), had earlier revealed their plans of transiting crypto firms under the MiCA. The Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Act, passed in 2023, has been the prime regulatory law for crypto in Europe. Now the AMF has announced a few amendments to their crypto rules, considering the MiCA Act.

According to their press release, the changes will come into effect by January 1, 2024. 

The AMF has included two main aspects for the amendments. The first will include their general regulations, while the second will include digital asset services providers (DASPs). Since a new law in France has introduced enhanced registration for DASPs, the AMF will relook its policy for them.

Regarding its first objective, the AMF stated its aim was “to incorporate into the General Regulation and its policy the provisions applicable to DASPs subject to “enhanced” registration. This regime will become mandatory from January 1, 2024 for new players wishing to provide the four services subject to mandatory registration.”

The enhanced registration covers various aspects of compliance for DASPs. It includes client approval for using their assets and segregation of client assets and platform assets. It will also cover additional disclosure obligations and frameworks for managing conflicts of interest.

Its second objective would be solely to set its crypto rules along the lines of MiCA. The MiCA Act is, thus, organically spreading its reach across Europe with its crypto-friendly measures. The hype around the regulation has also reached the US. A US lawmaker claimed in early 2023 how the US was lagging behind Europe regarding crypto regulation. Eventually, a few crypto bills also passed their first stage in the US.

Europe has also seen several bright sparks for its crypto industry recently. France is already ahead on crypto regulations. Slovakia had also reduced taxes on crypto transactions, in a boost for the industry. But, the brightest prospect has been the United Kingdom. The UK government has taken firm actions to advance multiple pro-crypto initiatives. Days back, it also encouraged using blockchain technology under a UK law.

With global crypto regulation on track, private corporations have introduced new measures for crypto. PayPal introduced the most popular feature involving crypto last week. It could lead to deeper penetration for crypto adoption globally since PayPal is a popular fintech worldwide. Moreover, other fintech firms could also follow in PayPal’s shoes, introducing products like stablecoins.

All such developments have led to a stable year so far for the crypto space. Despite a few legal bottlenecks in the US, the growth trajectory for the industry looks set for 2023.

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