As a preamble to the autumn, the crypto sector returned to work, first of all our Association. It was an opportunity for the team and the members to meet for a whole afternoon in order to take stock of the past year – to present our achievements, to determine our areas of improvement, to draw lessons – and to draw the outlines of the one to come. A positive assessment, welcomed by the members who renewed their confidence in our actions, as shown by their presence and their involvement during this new school year. Thank you to them, without their support and participation, the task would be very difficult. The roadmap of Adan, thus established and validated during this resumption, is articulated around four major axes.

First, to establish France and its industry as the leading European center of attractiveness and competitiveness. Over the past few years, Adan has been able to convey the sector’s ambitions and messages at key moments such as the French presidential and legislative elections, and European regulatory debates, so that it is no longer ignored by our decision-makers. This long-term work is now paving the way for the implementation of a genuine national acceleration strategy dedicated to crypto-assets, the adaptation of our tax regime, the unblocking of relations between new entrants and established players, and a better understanding of the real issues and opportunities of this innovation. But there is still a long way to go, and there are many pitfalls – such as the risk of inappropriate and disproportionate regulation, or the lack of public support in the face of sometimes unfair competition from foreign players. Yet our digital sovereignty is at stake.

Establish Adan as the representative of the European crypto industry. While we were born as a French association, our ambition has always been to be able to carry the voice of the European industry, as evidenced by Adan’s considerable work on EU matters – from MiCA to the LCB-FT reform, via the digital euro. This vision has been reinforced by the role our country has played in recent years in structuring the European crypto industry. France has many assets that make it a credible location for large international companies wishing to develop their activities in Europe. The dynamism of its industry, its talents, the expertise of its authorities, the clarity of its taxation and its regulations (even if they are not perfect) whose interest is reinforced by the harmonization of the European regulations and the implementation of the European passport. It is not surprising that some of these companies have already turned to Adan to work with us and be represented by the Association. Our role is to capitalize on these strengths and to raise the awareness of our decision-makers on the opportunity not to be missed for France to set itself up as the core of the European crypto industry, the land of emanation and welcome of the Web3 champions.

Consolidate Adan’s presence. We remain a young association, and we must perpetuate our action and extend our representation. This will require the strengthening of our team through the recruitment of new staff in order to assume the growing workload and missions entrusted to us, and to satisfy our ever-growing membership. However, it is by federating more and more companies that the voice of the sector that Adan carries will become all the more impactful and listened to by our interlocutors. This is why the Association will also work to diversify its subjects in order to bring on board more and more project leaders and use cases, beyond the crypto-asset markets alone. The creation of our DeFi and NFT Committees this summer is already a testament to this.

Maintain and intensify Adan’s educational efforts. One of the major roles of the Association is to promote and make visible an industry that is still little known in its scope and diversity, and that still suffers from a negative image fueled by a still limited knowledge of the subject by the general public (which is not incomprehensible), the apparent complexity of the subject that can discourage or frighten, but also a false or biased information that continues to spread. Adan’s educational action – through our multiple interventions and the articles we produce – will have to accelerate this year with new initiatives, some of which are still top secret, but we will lift the veil on them soon!

All in all, a fine program, ambitious but necessary in view of the challenge of seeing France and the European Union choose the path of innovation and preserve its digital sovereignty.

A program already well underway, as you will discover in this newsletter!

This month, let’s welcome our 19 new members, who join the ranks of our 195 members. Thank you all for your crucial support Enjoy your reading!

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Publications

DeFi: 50 shades of decentralization

Although DeFi is often presented as an intrinsically decentralized system, this sometimes hasty assertion must be qualified. The level of decentralization can indeed vary considerably from one protocol to another. So much so that – in some situations – the decentralization of a protocol is only artificially constructed by centralized actors who can unilaterally take decisions affecting the protocol and its users. This pedagogical article aims to demonstrate the multitude of levels of centralization of DeFi protocols. Through this prism, the Association wishes to remind the key values of DeFi: the decentralized character ensuring a direct communication from user to user, facilitating financial inclusion, promoting confidentiality and countering censorship. Read this educational article

Adan responds to Basel Committee consultation on prudential treatment of crypto-asset exposures

Following a preliminary proposal in June 2021, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) issued a second consultation for its position on the prudential treatment of crypto-asset exposures on June 30, 2022. This document clearly shows the direction that the banking industry is taking towards crypto-assets and what this should mean for the market more generally.

Between the need to maintain financial stability and the need for the banking industry to conduct its experiments on this new asset class, Adan encourages the adaptations made by the Basel Committee since its first consultation but considers that certain obstacles remain for the traditional financial world to fully embrace this industry. Read Adan’s response

Crypto & Finance Forum 2022: what to retain from this second edition organized by Adan?

On Monday, July 18, 2022, in pre-opening of the EthCC5, Adan organized the second edition of its Crypto & Finance Forum at the Maison de la Mutualité in Paris.

The Crypto & Finance Forum is the annual event that brings together the crypto sector, companies and start-ups, as well as decision-makers and authorities, to discuss constructively and objectively the major economic and structural issues and challenges facing the French and European crypto-asset industry. Read the report

BFM Crypto Replay: What is the first assessment of the crypto sector’s return to work?

On September 28, our President and CEO Faustine Fleuret discussed the return of the crypto sector, in the BFM Crypto: Le club program presented by Guillaume Sommerer. Watch the replay

Replay BFM Business: Crypto, how to adopt sobriety?

On September 5, our President Faustine Fleuret looked at the reception of crypto-assets industry players this Tuesday at Bercy to find solutions to use the opportunities offered by blockchain networks to facilitate ESG-RSE solutions, in the program 60 Minutes Business presented by Sandra Gandoin. Watch the replay

Newsletter of September 2022

Find the Adan newsletter of September 2022. On the agenda: Crypto & Finance Forum 2022, Tornado Cash… Read our last newsletter

Work

Concerning the Association’s strategy for the 2022-2023 school year, Adan organized on September 14 its first meeting with its members at the Espace Saint Martin in Paris. The objective of this meeting was to review the actions undertaken by Adan in 2022 and to define the Association’s action plan (strategy, priorities, objectives) for the new school year, in consultation with the members.

This meeting was also an opportunity to validate the creation of our two new committees:

️NFT Committee: Adan’s NFT Committee aims to support the ongoing reflections on the framework of NFTs, facilitate the understanding of the various use cases around these new assets and bring together the various players in the sector at dedicated events in order to support the development of these project carriers in France and in Europe.

⛓️DeFi Committee : The DeFi Committee of Adan participates in the reflections led by the Association on the regulation of decentralized finance. Federating the member companies of the Association whose activity tends to deploy decentralized finance protocols, it serves as a place of reflection between the members for the legal structuring of their company / association, the delimitation between DeFi and falsely decentralized projects, the construction of arguments to accompany the reflections led by the authorities and political decision makers (European Commission, ECB, IOSCO, BIS, IMF, etc.).

At the French level, while there are many topics, the evolution of the taxation of crypto-assets is at the center of our concerns.

Within the framework of the Finance Bill (PLF) for 2023, Adan has continued to draft its proposed amendments and has exchanged throughout the month of September with its interlocutors (authorities, policy makers, etc.) to make mention of crypto-assets in the text. At the time of its presentation on September 26, no mention was made to crypto-assets. On the other hand, some of Adan’s proposals were taken up by Véronique Louwagie (Les Républicains MP – Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee), with 24 co-signing MPs from the same political group and by Mohamed Laqhila (Democrat MP – Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee). After three years of implementation of the tax regime for crypto-assets, Adan considers that a global evaluation of the system should at least be carried out to understand the obstacles encountered by taxpayers and professionals.

On the accounting side, the Association and its members have exchanged with the French Accounting Standards Authority (ANC) on the accounting applicable to NFTs and the proposals made by Adan in terms of taxation for the PLF2023.

Concerning the framework applicable to DASPs, Adan participated in the ACPR’s LCB-FT Consultative Commission on September 16. During this meeting, the Association presented its proposals for amendments to the Sectoral Application Principles (SAP) for DASPs and took part in the debates on the update of the general LCB-FT questionnaire.

Concerning the criminal law applicable to activities on crypto-assets, the LOPMI bill has been submitted to the National Assembly and is currently being examined by Parliament. In view of the fact that Article 4 of this bill would allow a judicial police officer to seize digital assets by any means, with the authorization of the public prosecutor, Adan wished to discuss the application of such an article and more broadly the security issues applicable to crypto-assets.

Regarding the environmental issues related to crypto-assets, Adan met with the cabinet of Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition, to explain the issues related to crypto-assets in terms of energy consumption and to discuss how crypto-assets can contribute to France’s energy transition issues.

On the issues hindering the digital assets sector in France, Adan sat down with Schwan Badirou Gafari, Technical Advisor for Financial Services and Multilateral Financial Affairs, to explain the opportunities related to the crypto-assets sector for France’s competitiveness and the hindrances faced by players in doing business.

At the European level, MiCA and TFR have made their comeback and are about to be finalized.

Regarding the Regulation of crypto-asset markets, Adan received at the end of September the latest version of the MiCA Regulation before its validation by the EU Permanent Representatives Committee and the European Parliament. Thus, while Adan noted several positive developments for the industry, our preliminary analysis had highlighted a number of concerns regarding NFTs, the stablecoins regime and service providers (CASP). The text will undergo a final vote in Parliament on October 10 and is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) in early 2023.Regarding the Regulation of Crypto-asset Markets, Adan received the latest version of the MiCA Regulation at the end of September prior to its validation by the EU’s Permanent Representatives Committee and the European Parliament. Thus, while Adan noted several positive developments for the industry, our preliminary analysis had highlighted a number of concerns regarding NFTs, the stablecoins regime and service providers (CASP). The text will undergo a final vote in Parliament on October 10 and is expected to be published in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU) in early 2023.

In terms of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), the technical debates on the TFR progressed during the month of September. The text was approved by the EU ambassadors (COREPER) on October 5 and should be voted by the joint ECON-LIBE committees of the European Parliament on October 10.

In addition, the other texts of the AML/CFT package continue to be debated within the European Parliament. Some compromise amendments would aim to apply AML/CFT measures to decentralized finance protocols and DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations) while others foresee that NFT platforms would be considered as full AML/CFT actors.

The European Commission’s (EC) DG FISMA has announced a call for tender for a study on the supervision of decentralized finance (DeFi). This initiative has already been announced in the European Financial Stability and Integration Review report. It has also been presented as a potential option for regulating DeFi by the BIS, most recently in a discussion paper.

In more detail, DG FISMA is looking for applicants who will develop, implement and test innovative solutions for integrated DeFi monitoring. The key focus of the project will be to develop an automated data collection system directly from the Blockchain and evaluate the technological suitability of real-time monitoring of DeFi activity.

You are a DeFi protocol and you wish to participate to the call for tenders ? Follow this link : https://etendering.ted.europa.eu/cft/cft-document.html?docId=129606.

Interventions

  • Speech on the BFM Business program “Crypto, how to adopt sobriety?” on September 6, 2022
  • Speech at the DJCE’s back-to-school seminar on September 7, 2022
  • Participation in the Bored Alpes Summit organized by Nomiks
  • Participation in LaBChain’s webinar on “Regulatory developments in Europe and the world”.
  • Participation in the CRCC Paris conference “Crypto-assets: towards a new way of financing companies?”
  • Intervention at the round table “Decentralization And How To Speed It Up In Light Of Regulations” at the DappCon Berlin on September 12, 2022
  • Intervention à la table ronde “How France is paving way for the Blockchain ecosystem” lors de la Binance Blockchain Week le 15 septembre
  • Speaking at the webinar “the new crypto-asset framework” hosted by DriveInnovationInsights on September 19, 2022
  • Presentation at Patrimonia on the panel “Crypto: danger or eldorado? How to best support your clients” on September 29, 2022
  • Intervention dans l’émission SMART TECH de BSMART le 4 octobre 2022

Members’ news

  • ACADEE BLOCKCHAIN ACADEMY: We launch our NFT collection to support associative and entrepreneurial projects related to Web3. To know more about it
  • Ambrosia: Our team is growing and we are now close to 10! We need to recruit people to launch our Crypto Piggy Bank.
  • Arquant Capital: We have launched the first active management funds on crypto-assets in France, Arquant Bitcoin Dynamic Fund and Arquant Ethereum Dynamic Fund. This offer is aimed at professional clients and aims to facilitate access to the asset class and to accompany clients in managing volatility with a rigorous management process. To know more about it
  • Atlendis Labs: A new borrower is now present on the Atlendis protocol. A liquidity pool has been opened in favor of Parallel Capital, a market maker with an AA credit rating. More about Atlendis Labs
  • Caredda concept: Back to the opening of the Hybride Julie Caredda gallery To know more
  • EDDU: We will soon start our fundraising to acquire our first stock of ASIC, various partnerships signed to use 100% green energy, complete redesign of the website in progress.
  • GOin: GOin, the asset management firm specializing in diversified crypto-asset strategies, obtains its DASP registration and launches an offering dedicated to asset managers and their clients. Read more
  • iExec: In September, we issued a call for applications for the first Web3 Incubator in Lyon, launched in partnership with the H7 gas pedal. 25 applications were received and the 4 selected startups will be launched in October and will benefit from 6 months of support from the iExec and H7 teams. To know more about the project
  • Irene MEONI (IM FINANCE) : I participated in the international conference organized by Consejo Profesional de Ciencias Economicas de San Luis (Argentina) on September 7, 2022.
  • Lyzi: Crypto-currency payment available from LG Group. Possibility to pay for your car, motorcycle, car repairs or car rental with the Lizy app! To know more about it
  • Morpho Labs: Morpho-Aave is now available, improve your APY Aave on Morpho, already 20 millions of liquidity! Many integrations are in progress! More about Morpho Labs
  • Nomadic Labs: September 23, 2022 marked the successful launch of the Kathmandu Protocol – the 11th update to the Tezos Blockchain, providing users with an optimal and cutting-edge experience. Among other things, the Kathmandu protocol offers:
    • improved randomness for the distribution of baking rights
    • event-logging allowing off-chain systems to react to the execution of the contract
    • Continuous adjustments of block validation to improve Tezos’ TPS
    • support for ‘Ghostnet’, permanent testnet
    • Read more
  • Revo Avocats: Chérine Hosny, an associate of the firm, has successfully passed the admission tests of the 42 school, and will strengthen the team’s skills on the technical side of the crypto sector To know more
  • SCAGLIA Avocats: We are pleased to announce the launch of the SCAGLIA Avocats website dedicated to tax strategy for companies, entrepreneurs and individuals, with expertise in the crypto-asset sector. Read more
  • Scorechain: Lugh, an AMF-registered PSAN and issuer of stablecoin EURL, has chosen Scorechain, a leader in crypto compliance, to help them meet their AML and transaction monitoring obligations. Scorechain’s tools enable Lugh to implement regulatory analysis and monitoring procedures on the Ethereum and Tezos blockchain. Read more
  • Wagmi Studio : Wagmi Studio is proud to expand its team by adding new profiles Tech and Project Manager!

New members

  • AML Factory: For all those who suffer from the regulatory millefeuille, AML Factory has modeled the entire LCB-FT regulation to automate its implementation and deployment; making its compliance simpler, faster and exhaustive.
  • APWine SAS : Protocol for trading future yields. DeFi users can deposit interest-bearing assets during a specified period of time and trade in advance the future returns they will generate.
  • Binance France: Global leader in the blockchain ecosystem with a suite of financial products including the largest digital asset exchange. Binance France SAS is registered since May 4, 2022 as a digital asset service provider (DASP) with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
  • BLOK : Tokenization solution for real estate investment.
  • BRUZZO DUBUCQ : Law firm specialized in business law.
  • Capsule Corp. Labs: Platform for the creation and development of augmented NFTs. We bring NFTs to life. We partner with developers of augmented NFT solutions by providing them with all the resources they need to develop their decentralized application. From ideation to launch on the Ternoa Blockchain.
  • Crypto Assets Management : Our service is a portfolio management solution under mandate specialized in digital assets for individuals, professionals and companies.
  • Dartevelle Dubest Bellanca : Independent French law firm founded in 2009, Dartevelle Dubest Bellanca & Associés is a leading player in the criminal defense of companies and their executives as well as in banking and financial regulation and compliance.
  • Functori: We are actively working on the core of the Tezos blockchain, designing open-source tools for the development of smart contracts using our expertise in formal methods and programming languages. Finally, we use all this expertise to support our clients on web3 projects (NFT, DeFi, etc.).
  • Lord Services: Crypto asset exchange platform with premium customer service, premium support staff and an exclusive investment service. LordToken provides a launchpad to become a launching pad for many sustainable and philanthropic projects.
  • Luno France : Wallet and crypto currency exchange.
  • Moonshot Incubator : Web3 Studio Incubator.
  • NSK Legal : Firm dedicated to banking and financial regulation, as well as to new technologies associated with financial and payment services.
  • Onchained Lab (EtherScore): Decentralized reputation system providing NFT badges based on blockchain users’ transaction history.
  • URBIZ : Club of freelance excellence, we source your missions from our members with transparency, professionalism and tolerance.