Annonces

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Cryptoast media has published its selection of 21 French Web 3 personalities who this year have taken the sector further and further, both in Europe and internationally.

As last year, our President Faustine Fleuret is included in this list: recognition and a strong testimony for Adan's works and positions, its educational action, its representation of the industry in front of public decision-makers, regulators and major economic players, and its work in federating the future champions of Web 3 are decisive in building this sector of the future.

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We're launching our third industry study, in partnership with KPMG and Ipsos, to provide crucial insights into crypto in Europe.

This study will help inform both public and private stakeholders and contribute to put Web3 at the heart of discussions and candidates’ programmes ahead of the European legislative elections.

Our past editions received significant attention from the media and policymakers. The 2024 edition will be presented in mid-March in Paris.

Please take a moment to fill out our questionnaire to enrich our analysis and understand the key challenges you face. All responses will remain anonymous.

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Works

Clarification of the French State Council’s decision on taxation for staking

After several weeks of negotiations on staking taxation policies, an approach for a long-term solution has been adopted.

Adan, through its publications and engagements, had emphasised that a clarification of individuals' tax situation would be appreciated. Moreover, the State's decision in 2018 on mining taxation is now a source of litigation between individuals and the administration. It is therefore preferable to provide useful clarifications for everyone regarding how mining and staking income are to be taxed.

It seemed imperative, however, to amend the wording proposed in the finance bill to ensure that the ongoing work at the European level is taken into account, as well as the reality of the sector, its developments, and taxpayers’ common practices. The side effects of such an initiative could otherwise have been detrimental to the development of this sector in France.

Due to the lack of time to carry out these reflections on this complex subject and make the necessary changes during the parliamentary debates, it was wisely decided to withdraw the provisions related to mining during the adoption of the 2024 budget.

If the uncertainty hanging over taxpayers is not a sustainable situation, taking the time for useful discussions to achieve appropriate regulation, combining legal certainty and attractiveness for France, appears to be the right approach. Adan will therefore stand alongside the authorities to support this process throughout 2024.

Court of Auditors: Adan's contribution to its report on structuring the Web3 sector

Online article (french version)

On December 19th, 2023, the National Audit Office published a structuring report for the Web3 sector to which Adan made several contributions.

Adan is pleased to see a number of concerns highlighted in this report that Adan regularly conveys to public decision-makers, such as :

• Strengthening supervisory authorities teams;
• Harmonising regulations internationally;
• The recurring difficulties for key players in the sector, including PSANs, in their relationships with the majority of banks;
• The importance of having companies or public services in our region that develop strategic infrastructures, such as the implementation of the travel rule.

Without this, we can neither guarantee regulations and effectively protect investors, nor preserve the competitiveness of our French and European companies.

January 1st : strengthened registration

It's been official since January 1st, digital asset service providers (DASPs) are now required to undergo a "strengthened registration" with the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) in France in order to offer their services to the French population.

What does this change mean?

In order to have their applications approved, DASPs will still need to demonstrate the integrity and competence of their leadership, as well as the implementation of measures to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. This requirement has been in place since the establishment of the regulatory regime in 2019 under the Pacte law. However, starting from this week, they will also need to:

• Have an adequate internal security and control system, a conflict of interest management system, and a resilient and secure computer system.
• Provide clear, accurate, and non-misleading information to their clients.
• Publish their pricing policy.
• Establish a complaint handling policy.

For DASPs who hold their clients' cryptocurrencies, they will now also be required to: establish a custody policy, ensure segregation of client assets (from each other and from their own assets), and promptly return client assets in case of issues attributable to the custodian. They must also specify their responsibilities within a contract and obtain prior authorization from their clients to use their assets.

The strengthened registration brings the entities operating in France closer to the requirements of the #MiCA regulation before it applies to their counterparts in other European Union member states. This will serve as a mark of credibility and seriousness for partners of DASPs established in France and could ultimately become a competitive advantage.

Several entities have already been working for months on their strengthened registration. In order for the regulation to be effective, both in terms of investor protection and the attractiveness of our businesses, it will be necessary for these valuable registrations to be issued within reasonable timeframes.

Without this, the regime will not only fail to give us a head start over the rest of Europe, but we will also have disadvantaged our companies for a year, pending the arrival of MiCA.