The month of May was no exception to the intense start of the year and was again marked by a wealth of news. In particular, market movements have been the subject of much ink and attention. However, the risk is to miss the honest debate. As our report on the state of play in 2020 and the development prospects of the French digital assets industry published on May 6 shows, the sector is working to realise the opportunities offered by crypto assets and blockchain technologies. Yet, it still finds many pitfalls path. Indeed, despite the sector’s steady growth, our survey confirms the structural and persistent blockages faced by industry players: minimal access to funding for their projects, perfectible relationships with traditional players, regulatory complexity, all carried by a negative image that sticks to the skin of crypto assets.

So, what is the priority today: commenting on prices, following the frenzy of Elon Musk’s tweets, or taking a genuine interest in our players, their value propositions and their needs? Adan’s position is clear and constant: we will continue to make proposals to the industry to resolve these problems and create genuinely favourable conditions for the development of innovation in France.

One positive point, however: we note that within the political sphere, new stakeholders are taking an interest in the subject from a wide variety of angles (regulation, taxation, the environmental issue, sovereignty, etc.). We must seize this opportunity to make this new audience aware of all the problems affecting the French and European industry and give them an overall view of its present and future. In this respect, we are campaigning for crypto assets to be placed at the heart of the digital finance strategy that the French Presidency of the European Union has set as one of its priorities. The debates around the MiCA projects and the pilot scheme continue, and doubts persist regarding the absolute will to promote innovation in Europe.

To support us in all these endeavours, we welcome two new members this month: M+ and the law firm Fieldfisher. Welcome to them!

A beautiful month of June to all,

Faustine

Event

Conference “The French digital assets sector in 2020”

On June 2nd, Adan organised a web conference on the digital asset industry in 2020. This event analysed and transcribed the data from our latest survey report on the state of play and development prospects of the cryptoasset and blockchain technology industry.

The speakers at this conference were Faustine Fleuret (President and CEO, Adan), Jules Dubourg (Administrative and Financial Manager, Adan) and Hugo Bordet (Project Manager, Adan).

Watch the replay (French)

Publications

Faustine Fleuret elected President of Adan : “We will continue to be a force of proposal to meet the challenges to the development of the crypto industry”

At the end of the first ordinary General Assembly of Adan, which took place on Thursday 6 May 2021, the Association has seen several positive changes among its Board of Directors, its Presidency and the Executive Bureau.

Following the General Assembly’s vote, the result of which was then confirmed by the Board of Directors, Faustine Fleuret was elected President of the Association. Since Friday 7 May, she took over from Simon Polrot, Adan’s first President in office since January 2020.
➡️Read the press release

Adan publishes its survey report on the French digital assets sector in 2020

Adan publishes its survey report on the state of play and development prospects of the digital assets and blockchain technologies industry. This document helps to illustrate the level of development of the players in the sector and their general feelings.
➡️ Read the survey report

Technological vs. legal purpose: Adan calls for technological neutrality in regulation

Adan participated in the European Commission’s consultation, launched as part of its reflections on revising the Finality Directive. On this occasion, the Commission is again interested in the subjects of security tokens as a follow-up to its work on creating a pilot scheme.
➡️ Read the consultation

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

Work

The month of May saw an increase in the number of institutional works and meetings, among which :

  • [ADAN] Preparation of our first annual report
  • [Cabinet of Minister Bruno Le Maire] Sending a summary on the state of relations between cryptoasset players and banking institutions to request a meeting
  • [Finance] Participation in the Paris EUROPLACE Digital Finance WG.
  • [AML/CFT] Preparation of the methodological guide to help DASPs in their registration procedure.
  • [Payment] Hearing in the framework of the information mission on the digital transformation of large groups
  • [DASP] Preparation and sending of an argument to parliamentarians recommending the postponement of the 10 June deadline for the registration of DASPs in services 3 and 4.

European focus

In May, we finalised our recommendations and proposed amendments to the draft MiCA and pilot scheme regulations through various actions:

  • We met with Professor Hubner, the Hungarian representation in the European Parliament and the Treasury Directorate General.
  • We have sent our updated position paper on the pilot regime to our European institutional interlocutors.
  • Participation in the amendment proposals formulated by Paris EUROPLACE.

Speaking opportunities

During May, Adan took part in several events:

  • Interview in the programme “Le Journal de l’Economie” of Radio Classique on 20 May 2021.
    ➡️ Listen to the podcast
  • Participation in the programme: ” Smart Tech ” on BSmart on 25 May 2021.
    ➡️ Watch the replay
  • Interview with the media Cointribune: ” ADAN: The spokespersons of blockchains in France ” on May 26, 2021.
    ➡️ Watch the replay
  • Intervention at the online conference: “Crypto: more mainstream, more regulated?” organised by Ubble on 31 May 2021.
    ➡️ Watch the replay

Member News

  • Arianee: The fashion brand Ba&Sh has launched a second-hand programme using Arianee’s NFT solution. Review of the experience with Pierre-Arnaud Grenade, Global CEO of Ba&Sh.
    Read more
  • Ark ecosystem: Marketsquare, the new ark project, polkadot list
    Read more
  • Blockchain Partner by KPMG: Today, we unveil our first comprehensive report for decision-makers to understand the challenges of crypto assets. With the development of these new assets, private and public institutions must now consider this topic from a strategic perspective. Discover our vision of the subject through four parts covering the major themes of cryptos: Bitcoin “digital gold”, Stablecoins & MNBC, Decentralised Finance and Web 3.
    Read more
  • Nomadic Labs: Florence, the sixth update of the Tezos protocol, is now active.
    Read more
  • Ownest: The startup Ownest has launched in May a series of articles dedicated to NFT technology and, in particular, on its application cases in the supply chain environment, its core business.
    Read more
  • Scorechain: Scorechain has announced a partnership with Custodigit, specialising in cryptocurrency and digital asset management for financial institutions. Scorechain’s AML/LCB and transaction tracking solutions will be integrated on the Swiss platform.
    Read more
  • Smart-Chain: Smart-Chain accompanied Smartlink during its private and public token sales. The Tezos-powered platform managed to raise $3 million in total. Its soft cap of $500,000 was reached in less than 2 minutes during the pre-sale, and its hard hat in the 48 hours following the launch.
    Read more
  • Waltio: New Free White Paper Waltio x ORWL Attorneys at Law – “Understanding the taxation of new digital asset revenues
    Read more
  • Woorton: Woorton continues to grow and is recruiting a dozen people in 2021: developers, compliance, finance, operations, sales, marketing. Contact 
    [email protected] for more details! Read more

New members

Since the beginning of May, we have welcomed two new members, welcome to them!

  FieldFisher: A leading European law firm in many sectors.
M+: French independent regulated real estate asset management company offering a wide range of real estate solutions to its clients and partners.