Research
Newsletter – November 2021
In this month of October, many historic firsts have marked the cryptoasset universe. Their total capitalisation has surpassed that of Apple, and is slowly approaching $3 billion. Bitcoin reached its highest price ever, touching $66,974. Assets under management in decentralised finance protocols broke the $100 billion barrier. The first bitcoin-related ETF (BITO) was launched on the New York Stock Exchange. The 80-member mark was passed at Adan 🙂
The vitality of the cryptoassets market is necessarily accompanied by increased attention from the institutional side. While the US is gradually tightening its grip on stablecoins, the European Central Bank has unveiled its new committee of experts to assist in its investigations into its digital euro project. IOSCO and CPMI have launched a joint consultation on stablecoins. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) revealed its updated guidance for virtual assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs). And we can suspect that the regulatory debates on the MiCA regulation will soon resume…
In this rich news, Adan juggles its different missions. Increasing the visibility of the cryptoassets sector, for example during Fintech R:evolution and our presence at numerous events (see below). Supporting the evolution of the French framework, notably in the context of the discussions on the 2022 Finance Bill. Helping companies to deal with the regulations, such as with the publication of a new Regulation page on our website, and the publication of our AML-CFT methodological guide for DASPs. To educate, with our new article on the DeFi.
Finally, last month, eleven new actors honoured us by joining Adan. Welcome to all of them! And as usual, don’t forget to look out for the news of all our members at the end of the newsletter.
Faustine
Event
Adan partners with TRUSTECH
Adan is pleased to take part in the next edition of TRUSTECH which will take place from 30 November to 2 December 2021, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. Come and attend the intervention of Faustine Fleuret who will speak to promote the members of the cryptoasset industry in France and Europe.
Publications
Press release
At the Crypto: what is at stake? event held on Wednesday 3 November in Bercy, the exchange platform Binance announced the launch of Objectif Lune in France. Adan, through its President and CEO, Faustine Fleuret, intervened and reminded us of the importance of fair competition through reinforced control.
Adan website regulations page
In October, Adan launched a regulatory page on its website. This space lists all the useful legislative and regulatory texts to be brought to the attention of the cryptoasset industry, as well as Adan’s work in this area. Its goal: to give you access to the reference texts allowing you to understand the regulations applicable to the players subject to French regulations.
AML/CFT Methodology Guide for DASPs
This guide has been written for DASPs in the process of registration. It aims to explain the steps to be taken by these actors to comply with the LCB-FT when submitting their registration file (without the elements provided being exhaustive). It complements the new Regulations page that has been available on our website since the beginning of October.
The advent of decentralised finance (DeFi): which use cases?
DeFi is seen as an alternative to the traditional banking and financial system developed on open and decentralised blockchains. On 18 March 2021, Adan organised a conference on this subject, the replay of which is available on our website. This educational article introduces the concept of DeFi and lists its main use cases.
Work
The month of October saw an increase in work and institutional meetings, including :
- [AML-CFT]
- Adan is finalising its analysis of the European Commission’s package, published last July
- Adan analyses the updated FATF Guidance on virtual assets and virtual asset service providers;
- Adan participated in Tracfin’s presentation on the update of its ERMES project, and is organising a dedicated workshop for DASPs in November.
- [PLF 2022] Following the debates in the public session of the National Assembly, two of the eight amendments proposed by Adan have already been adopted by the National Assembly. Adan is now exchanging with the members of the Senate Finance Committee in order to table its proposals.
- [DASP]
- Adan has finalised proposals to clarify the DASP regime, which we have submitted to the AMF;
- The Association is participating in the AMF consultation on staking;
- Adan met with the French Insurance Federation to discuss insurance issues for DASPs.
- [NFT] Issues relating to the qualification of non-fungible tokens are currently being studied by the Adan Legal Committee, in close cooperation with the Tax/Accounting WG.
- [DeFi] The reflections on the treatment of decentralised finance in the future European regulation are conducted within the Association’s Legal Committee.
Speaking opportunities
During the month of October and for the start of the new school year, Adan took part in several events:
- Participation in the “Nuit du Droit” round table “Cryptoassets: how to combine innovation and regulation” on 4 October;
- Speech at the webinar organised by ACSEL “MICA Regulation: towards a harmonised European market for digital asset providers” on 5 October;
- Interview given to L’AGEFI during the AM Tech Days on “Innovating together: who is the perfect partner?“
- Participation in the programme “Cryptos: what European regulation?” broadcast by BSMART on 6 October;
- Speech at the ACPR-AMF Fintech Forum during the round table “Cryptoassets and the challenges of European regulation” on 11 October;
- Participation to the webinar “The regulatory dynamics of the crypto economy” by Blockchain@HEC on October 14th;
- Participation in the Fintech R:evolution conference on 15 October;
- Speech at the dinner-debate on the digital transformation of transactions of the Club Innovation et Transformation numérique, chaired by Mr. Eric Bothorel and Mrs. Virginie Duby-Muller, on October 17;
- Speech at the webinar “Discovery Tour in Paris” organised by ChooseParisRegion on 27 October;
Member News
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- Bitsa SAS : Launch of Bitsa Rewards in our application. Read more
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- Chainalysis Inc. : Find out how the use of crypto-currencies differs across countries. In this report, we use blockchain analysis to quantify these differences in usage across countries and regions, with interviews with local experts to help put our data in the right context. Read more
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- Coinhouse : We are launching a new fixed-rate product: the Crypto USDT passbook. It allows companies or individuals to obtain a guaranteed return, at a fixed annualised rate of 5%, without equivalent on the market. Read more
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- CryptElite : In addition to Binance, CrypElite will soon be compatible with two new exchange platforms, namely FTX and Bybit. Read more
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- CryptoSimple : We are pleased to inform you that CryptoSimple is officially registered as a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF). Read more
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- DIGITAL EXCHANGE : We become a PSP agent and will soon be offering pro and personal account opening and get registered as a digital asset trading platform (this is the 3rd one). Read more
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- iExec : We have launched the iExec Oracle Factory, a developer interface that allows anyone to create their own oracles in less than 5 minutes and without blockchain skills. The oracles created are secured via TEE technology which uses hardwares enclaves to protect the API key and the collected data, guaranteeing their confidentiality and incorruptibility. Read more
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- Kaiko : In partnership with Bloomberg LP, Kaiko is pleased to announce the first issue of Universal Financial Instrument Identifiers (FIGI®) for cryptoassets. The FIGI standard will significantly improve interoperability, transparency and efficiency among crypto industry players. Read more
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- KPMG France : We are very pleased to support Lugh in their stablecoin euro issue. Stablecoins are the bridge between traditional currencies and the crypto world: the creation of euro-based stablecoins, in an environment where the dollar is already hegemonic, is good news for the European currency area. Read more
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- Nomadic Labs : Launch of Open Tezos, a community platform dedicated to the discovery of the Tezos blockchain. Read more
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- Ownest : In October, Ownest was at BIG2021, Europe’s largest business event organised by Bpi France. This was an opportunity for our CEO to participate in a series of 3 talks, including one on the challenges of blockchains. Read more
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- Retreeb : We were invited to the Fantom Developper Conference in Abu Dhabi where Jérémi Lepetit (CEO) and Nadjib Belloundja gave 2 conferences on ethical finance and seamless blockchains. Read more
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- Scorechain : We have closed a €2 million pre-series A round of financing led by Tioga Capital (Luxembourg) and followed by Blockrocket (Germany) and CVVC Crypto Valley (Switzerland). The objective of this financing is to accelerate the company’s growth in Europe as well as to reach new markets such as APAC and Latin America. Read more
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- SheeldMarket : We have raised $10m to become the leading institutional crypto broker. Read more
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- SkillZ : We are now live on Solana and allow delegation to our validator: DdCNGDpP7qMgoAy6paFzhhak2EeyCZcgjH7ak5u5v28m Read more
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- TICKANDO : The launch of the first participatory financing solution supported by Blockchain technologies is planned before the end of 2021. It is the possibility for all project holders to finance their activities through the issuance of a token that will offer its holder the right to receive royalties calculated on the turnover of the activity. Read more
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- Waltio : We are now sharing our public roadmap. You can propose and vote for new features by accessing it. Read more
New members
Since the beginning of October, we have welcomed eleven new members, welcome to them!
Aria Compliance Consulting SAS: Consulting, training and project management in regulatory compliance for companies in the financial services sector;
Beaubourg Avocats: Law firm specialising in cryptoasset law;
Compleval: Audit and statutory auditing firm based in Marseille;
CV Expert: Accounting firm specialised in accounting and tax specificities related to blokchain and cryptoassets activity.
D&A Partner: Law firm – Innovation law;
Fiscal Online: E-magazine of tax news for legal and accounting professionals;
Mon Livret C: Portfolio management service in crypto assets;
Picart: Law firm specialised in economic law with strong expertise in competition, distribution, innovation, digital issues and IP/IT;
Sarah Compani: Blockchain lawyer since 2017, specialising in regulatory & privacy sectors in France and England;
Starton: Provides an API platform to connect any application to blockchains in a simple and scalable way;
Tickando : Crowdfunding solution, project financing against royalties calculated on the turnover of the royalty token issuer.