This Peer Review of France looks at the country’s progress in regulating and supervising crypto-asset activities, including stablecoins.
In France, the main use cases of crypto-assets to date are related to investment and trading, with stablecoins being used mostly as a medium of exchange for crypto-to-crypto transactions. Their use for payments remains limited, and so are the direct links between traditional finance and the crypto-asset market.
The French authorities have made significant progress in monitoring, regulating and supervising crypto-asset markets. They have established a regular mechanism to monitor market developments and risk trends as part of the financial stability framework of the Banque de France. They also successfully brought a large part of the crypto-asset market into the regulatory perimeter by introducing registration and licencing for digital asset service providers, and have enhanced their regime over time.
Notwithstanding these achievements, further steps can be taken to strengthen the regulatory framework for crypto-assets and stablecoins. These include facilitating a smooth transition to the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Asset Regulation (MiCAR) regime, strengthening enforcement efforts and promoting cross-border cooperation and information sharing.