Hello

Grown-up since 2019, the ADAN project was born out of the frustration I felt while working for several crypto companies towards the treatment of our activities by the public sphere and the lousy perception of crypto-assets in general. The representation of our industry did not seem sufficient, despite the commendable (and voluntary!) efforts that I and many others had made over many years. There was a lack of a “professional” dimension, continuity of action, a form of pro-activity. The efforts made were also, at times, spoiled by turf wars and a certain lack of pragmatism in certain positions.

Since the creation of ADAN in January 2020, in all modesty, I believe that we have more than fulfilled the objectives we set ourselves: to bring together the majority of the industry; to become the reference point of contact; to be a force for proposals on all issues; to build a solid team. I am incredibly proud of the work done during this first year of existence and happy to know that thanks to our survey, which has just been published, the members share this observation.

I have been fortunate enough to take on the Presidency of ADAN and the role of Director General this year, which has given me a lot of freedom to provide ADAN with the impetus I wanted. I am now happy to hand over to Faustine and remain fully committed to the Association by focusing on European and international issues. In deciding not to stand for re-election, I wanted to maintain the dynamism of this first year and encourage the renewal of ideas. Because what is essential, in the end, is that ADAN continues to represent and defend the industry in the most neutral and pragmatic way possible. So long live ADAN!

Simon Polrot

I am very proud to take up Simon’s torch and thus ensure the continuity of the actions undertaken and the positions taken by ADAN since its genesis. I see it as a sign that the work accomplished by Simon, Sébastien and myself is bearing fruit and following the desired path: that of facilitating the development of a solid, most neutrally and pragmatically and ambitious French crypto-asset sector even if the road is still long. As such, we will not be too much – thanks to the reinforcements of Jules and Hugo – to take up all the challenges that always mark the path of the players. By entrusting me with this new role, I am even more determined to promote the influence of the French crypto industry.

The new presidency of the Association will therefore have to perpetuate the work accomplished since its creation. First of all, it is a question of confirming the Association’s presence in the institutional landscape by maintaining the dialogue initiated with its various stakeholders. It is also a question of continuing to federate the crypto-asset industry by being the spokesperson for the innovative and precursory vision of the players and the obstacles to their achievement. This year again, the challenges for the sector are adaptable: the image of crypto-assets in the public sphere, French and European regulations, relations with the traditional financial ecosystem and Big Techs, education, awareness of the opportunities for the economic and digital sovereignty of France, etc. ADAN will continue to make constructive proposals to meet all these challenges.

would like to thank the members of ADAN for their support and their confidence in the Association’s achievements. This first General Assembly of ADAN bears witness to how far we have come in just one year and the optimism about the Association’s future ambitions, given the keen interest of the candidates to run for the Presidency and/or to sit on the Board of Directors. In particular, I would like to thank our founding members, who have supported ADAN since its creation and well before. I also congratulate the new members of our Board of Directors, elected during this Assembly, who will guide ADAN’s strategy in a privileged way. Finally, bravo and thank you to the united team that we form for the best and the best of the future of the French crypto industry.

Long live ADAN!

Faustine Fleuret

Publications

Renewal of Adan’s Presidency and Board of Directors

On 6 May, Adan held its first General Assembly, at the end of which :

  • Faustine Fleuret was elected President and appointed Director-General of Adan, succeeding Simon Polrot, who remains fully committed to the Association’s Executive Board.
  • The Board of Directors has renewed around :
    • Cabinet Heuvrard, represented by Fabrice Heuvrard,
    • Ledger, represented by Amandine Doat
    • Coinhouse, represented by Nicolas Louvet,
    • Kaiko, represented by Alec Clément
    • Blockchain Partner by KPMG, represented by Alexandre Stachtchenko
    • Nomadics Labs, represented by Hadrien Zerah

The General Assembly maintained its confidence in the operational team and recommended continuity in the Association’s activities. ➡️ Read the press release

Report and replay of the conference “Stablecoins: Digital Transformation of Money? “

On 23 April, Adan organised a conference in collaboration with LaBChain on stablecoins and the digital transformation of money. ➡️ Read the report

Ecological impacts and challenges of blockchain technologies

Calculating the environmental footprint of blockchains is a complicated exercise that requires taking into account many variables, some of which suffer from a lack of reliable information. ➡️Read the educational article

FATF Guidance review: smart contract developers and digital asset holders subject to AML/CFT

Adan has expressed its concerns in response to the FATF public consultation and made concrete proposals to help address the specific risk profile of innovative decentralised finance products. ➡️ Read the proposals

Meetings

The month of April has seen an increase in the number of institutional works and meetings, including :

  • [Cabinet of Minister Bruno Le Maire] Progress report on the difficulties encountered by the digital assets industry vis-à-vis banking institution
  • [MP Faure-Muntian – AMF (French Financial Markets Regulator)] Discussions on PSAN issues
  • [ACPR ( French Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority) – AMF] Discussions on issues related to the processing of PSAN files
  • [Senate] Interview on digital sovereignty

Work

  • [DeFi] Participation in the first meeting of the Digital Finance WG and use cases hosted by Paris EUROPLACE
  • [Security tokens] Response to the AMF consultation on the Blockchain Ordinance and the accounting instruction for issuers of securities in DEEP

European focus

The month of April was favourable to various European actions, including :

  • [MiCA / Pilot Regime] Participation in the work of Paris Europlace to respond to the draft reports to Parliament on MiCA and the pilot regime
  • [FATF] Participation in the meeting of the Consultative Group on Virtual Assets on its revised Guidance
  • [MiCA] Drafting of a position paper on the EU Council proposal for a MiCA compromise
  • [Pilot Regime] Signature of the Franco-German position paper to defend the essential fundamentals of the European pilot scheme
  • [European Financial Regulation] Preparation of the response to the European Commission’s consultation on the revision of the Finality Directive
  • [Partnership] Support of the Blockchain Associations Forum training initiative

Speaking opportunities

During the month of April, Adan took part in several events:

  • Simon’s intervention at the Rencontres Digitales 2021 of France Payments Forum on “crypto-payments” on 8 April ➡️ Watch the replay
  • Sébastien’s intervention in the Smart Tech show dealing with the digitisation of crypto-currencies on the TV channel B Smart on April 14 ➡️ Watch the replay
  • Adan-LaBChain stablecoin event on April 23 ➡️ Watch the replay

News from members

  • Arianee : Arianee raises €8M in the first hybrid equity/token investment round led by ISAI and BPI France. More information
  • Blockchain Partner : Blockchain Partner joins KPMG’s teams to form the reference in the blockchain and cryptocurrency consulting and technical development market. More information
  • BYKEP : BYKEP becomes the first French crypto application registered with the AMF as a digital asset service provider (DASP) and re-launches its Bitcoin buy/sell service by credit card and wire transfer. More information
  • Chainalysis: Chainalysis announced that it has raised $100 million in Series D funding, doubling its valuation to over $2 billion. More information
  • Coinhouse: Coinhouse and Lugh launch “EUR-L”, the first French stablecoin backed by the Euro. Available exclusively to Coinhouse customers, EUR-L is developed in a trusted environment: Lugh reserves as many euros as EUR-L in circulation. This reserve is stored in an account hosted by Société Générale and audited monthly. More information 
  • COQONUT: With BRUZZO DUBUCQ, we sent a tax rescript to the administration to clarify the grey areas of crypto taxation. More information
  • CryptElite : CryptElite facilitates access to its portfolio management service by simplifying the available investor profiles. More information
  • Feel Mining : Direct sale of Bitcoin and ETH via our platform. More information
  • Flowdesk : Flowdesk has just moved to new offices next to the Champs-Elysées. We will probably offer some sub-location positions, so don’t hesitate to contact us.
  • Just-Mining : Implementation of Chainanalysis in our systems, a great partnership coming up More information
  • Kaiko : Kaiko (market data provider for cryptoassets) is proud to be the official partner of Fidelity Investments (leading global asset manager with $4.9T in assets under management) in their digital asset analytics platform, Sherlock. More information
  • Nomadic Labs: Birth of Lugh (EUR-L), the first French digital asset backed by the Euro on the Tezos blockchain. More information
  • Ownest : Ownest launches, as an early adopter of the technology in logistics, the first article of a long series dedicated to NFT (Non Fungibles Token). Blockchain-based, non-interchangeable digital tokens whose use cases go far beyond art, gaming and collectibles. More information
  • Scorechain: Scorechain has officially launched Scorechain Academy, a programme that helps professionals develop and certify their AML/CFT knowledge and skills in the cryptocurrency sector with Scorechain’s solution. More information
  • SheeldMarket: SheeldMarket becomes the official prime broker of the European Hedge Fund ARK36. More information
  • Smartchain : Smartchain takes a stake in Fidly, which is a marketing platform for creating loyalty programs for merchants, franchises and connected cities on Blockchain (public).  More information
  • Waltio : Practical webinar on how to use Waltio for your crypto tax return! More information
  • We fundia : The B2B lending solutions in Security Tokens (primary market with We fundia and secondary market with Re fundia) have been labelled on 18/03/2021 by the “Banking” commission of the Pôle Finance Innovation.  More information
  • Woorton : Woorton is recruiting 3 people in 2021 to accelerate its growth on the French and European markets. More information
  • Youseeme : Youseeme is now registered at regafi.fr under the number 92083, agent for payment services, mandate for the account LEMONWAY Code : 16568 More information

New members

We have welcomed, since the beginning of April, four new members, welcome to them!

Aramis: M&A law firm specialised in new technologies/Fintech.

CryptoSimple: Start-up developing a Robo-advisor for crypto assets.

Elements Energy: Startup based in the Pyrenees, the president is Jim Dowling, an English entrepreneur and renewable energy engineer.

Kramer Levin: American law firm based in Paris for 60 years.