French Regulator Begins Accepting Crypto Service Provider Applications

[sirty143]

French Regulator Begins Accepting Crypto Service Provider Applications Ahead of MiCA Regulation

The French financial regulatory authority has begun accepting applications for authorization as a crypto asset service provider under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, ahead of its implementation in December 2024. This regulation mandates prior authorization for market participants offering crypto asset services in the EU, with strict adherence to anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, and governance rules. See more for yourself here.

Your opinion is greatly appreciated.

[TomPluz]

The French financial regulatory authority has begun accepting applications for authorization as a crypto asset service provider under the European Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) Regulation, ahead of its implementation in December 2024. This regulation mandates prior authorization for market participants offering crypto asset services in the EU, with strict adherence to anti-money laundering, cybersecurity, and governance rules.

In my view, this MiCA is going to be a big test on how regulations should and can work for the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sectors. I would be watching which of the well-known crypto-based platforms in the industry would be registering in France under the MiCA rules which is from the onset is known to be a lot stricter than the one already implemented in the country. I am not sure though if the French market for crypto is really big that getting "under the knife" can be worth it all. Let's see how will the market respond to being under the wings of MiCA and how many players would love to stay under its preying eyes.

[yhiaali3]

Perhaps this has something to do with the news I heard yesterday that Bybit exchange has stopped buying and selling in France, although it confirmed that it will return in the future once it complies with the country’s new cryptocurrency regulations.

I don’t know much about cryptocurrencies in France, but from this news it seems that the regulations are strict and that they are heading towards more regulatory pressure, although this seems strange in a country as economically open as France.

[target]

MiCA if I remember was the one who first wanted to regulate custodial wallets such as Metamask which they consider these wallets as brokers that has to mandate brokers to ask its users to submit KYC.

MiCA has stricter rules. But it might not be so different to Russia's rules or any other country such as US. France will have the same but its good to have started early before the implementation of the rules, people will have time to prepare.

[Faisal2202]

In my view, this MiCA is going to be a big test on how regulations should and can work for the cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sectors. I would be watching which of the well-known crypto-based platforms in the industry would be registering in France under the MiCA rules which is from the onset is known to be a lot stricter than the one already implemented in the country. I am not sure though if the French market for crypto is really big that getting "under the knife" can be worth it all. Let's see how will the market respond to being under the wings of MiCA and how many players would love to stay under its preying eyes.

You have made a valid point but even if the market in France is not that big still what's at stake here, I mean if a platform is risking to step into France under the preying eyes of MiCa and fail to comply with it how bad can happen to them. Mica will ask them to halt their functions in France and the EU well, but that might not be a big problem for an exchange or a platform. Mica's implementation is very new and I think they also don't know what they are going to do haha.

If the French Regulator are accepting crypto services without the fear of getting sued by MICA then they must be fed up with their application system as the wait is too long. Maybe they think doing this before the application system will motivate them to fasten their work haha.

[Husires]

Will banks, highly regulated entities or investment entities apply for licenses or will it be limited to companies with experience in dealing with cryptocurrencies such as Coinbase?
I agree that it will be a real test of what the future of cryptocurrencies will be like with regulatory compliance.

[Z-tight]

So i believe all member states of the EU are going to comply with MICA regulations and ensure that all crypto asset providers have to register as legal entities before they can operate within the EU. We would see how this would work once it takes effect, and if there would be certain asset and service providers that would refuse this regulation and probably stop operating in that region.

[Husires]

So i believe all member states of the EU are going to comply with MICA regulations and ensure that all crypto asset providers have to register as legal entities before they can operate within the EU. We would see how this would work once it takes effect, and if there would be certain asset and service providers that would refuse this regulation and probably stop operating in that region.

There will be no problem with issues related to tax compliance, money laundering, or suspicious account activity, as I believe that most investors in cryptocurrencies will comply with the legal legislation related to them, but does the government want to restrict cryptocurrencies by imposing strict regulations, or is its goal to protect investors’ money?

[TomPluz]

I don’t know much about cryptocurrencies in France, but from this news it seems that the regulations are strict and that they are heading towards more regulatory pressure, although this seems strange in a country as economically open as France.

We are definitely entering an era where regulatory pressures are coming in and crypto-focused platforms must comply, otherwise there will consequences along the way. And I am sure famous players working in other countries outside of France are looking at how they can do business in this market while complying the law. Let's see how many of them will eventually go under the MiCA law and be doing a good business operation in France. Now, I am looking at this as a good development and can force many firms to level-up and be compliant otherwise they would just be outside looking in.

[ZAINmalik75]

Perhaps this has something to do with the news I heard yesterday that the Bybit exchange has stopped buying and selling in France, although it confirmed that it will return in the future once it complies with the country’s new cryptocurrency regulations.

I don’t know much about cryptocurrencies in France, but from this news, it seems that the regulations are strict and that they are heading towards more regulatory pressure, although this seems strange in a country as economically open as France.

So now France people cannot use Bybit anymore? You mean they left the france market I did not heard of this news. I also not find it on Google can you share the source link please.  If Bybit planned to leave the France market before the implementation of Mica that's a clear sign that they don't want to be against Mics before clear instructions and there can be an other reason too.

Mica won't be monitoring only France but the 27 states of EU too in which there comes Germany, Romania and Australia, etc. So if Bybit is only leaving France and not other countries that's mean Mica is not the problem.

[yhiaali3]

So now France people cannot use Bybit anymore? You mean they left the france market I did not heard of this news. I also not find it on Google can you share the source link please.  If Bybit planned to leave the France market before the implementation of Mica that's a clear sign that they don't want to be against Mics before clear instructions and there can be an other reason too.

Yes, it's true. Bybit has stopped its services in France from August 2nd to August 13th. This is the official announcement on their official website:

If you are a French User:

Effective from August 2nd, 2024; 08:00 UTC:

Your account will be restricted to a "Close-Only" mode, which means that from that time onwards, there can be no opening or adding of any new positions nor the purchasing of any type of products by you. This restriction is applicable across all products offered by Bybit (including the One-Click Buy, Bybit Card, P2P, all Spot products, all Derivative products, Copy Trading, Trading Bot, Bybit Earn and Bybit Structured Products). At the same time, all deposits to your account will be similarly restricted.

Please wind down and close all of your open positions across all products and begin to withdraw your assets and funds and assets from your account.

Effective from August 13th, 2024; 08:00 UTC

All of the remaining open positions across all products (including but not limited to all Derivative products, all Spot products, Active Trading Bots, Copy Trading, Bybit Card, Bybit Earn products and Bybit Structured Products) that continue to remain unclosed at such point in time will be liquidated. All Card Services will also be suspended from this date onwards. From this date onwards, you will only be able to withdraw assets and funds from your account with us.

https://announcements.bybit.com/en/article/notice-on-close-only-and-position-closures-blta0c0e0f458eec266/?category=latest_bybit_news

[ZAINmalik75]

Yes, it's true. Bybit has stopped its services in France from August 2nd to August 13th. This is the official announcement on their official website:

You were right but why did they discontinue their services is not mentioned and I don't think it's due to Mica although they said due to regulatory restrictions they had to discontinue their services but why they leave France only while Mica is monitoring the other 27 countries too.

It's bad news for French people that they won't be able to use Bybit now the scary thing is these agencies like Mica can force any centralized exchange to comply with them or discontinue their services in a country. Most of the new tokens are either getting listed on Bybit or a few other exchanges. It would be a big loss for those new coin investors who won't get to trade them on Bybit anymore.

[yhiaali3]

It's bad news for French people that they won't be able to use Bybit now the scary thing is these agencies like Mica can force any centralized exchange to comply with them or discontinue their services in a country. Most of the new tokens are either getting listed on Bybit or a few other exchanges. It would be a big loss for those new coin investors who won't get to trade them on Bybit anymore.

Yes, this is very unfortunate. These strict regulations lead to the chaos of the industry and creativity and hinder the work of crypto companies, so these companies prefer to move away to other more open countries. This negatively affects users in the first place, as they lose the services of these important companies.

As for Bybit, yes, many new tokens are being listed. For example, there is currently a DOGS token that is expected to cause a stir. It will be listed on the 20th on Bybit, and French users will not be able to use their account, but fortunately it will also be listed on OKX.

[Z-tight]

but does the government want to restrict cryptocurrencies by imposing strict regulations, or is its goal to protect investors’ money?

The government wants to regulate the crypto industry, and according to them, they do so because they want to protect customers' funds, fight money laundering and any other illicit activities done with crypto. However, in doing so they also attack the network, attack privacy and discourage people from using crypto, which has done the network more harm than good.