France has begun to follow new trend among government officials to request licenses for the management of Bitcoin.
After the decision by D.C.’s officials to finally notice an elephant in the room and assign some status to Bitcoin, others began to follow the example. Last Wednesday the French Prudential Supervisory Authority (ACPR) made a public announcement that Bitcoin exchanges are now viewed and treated as payment service. Hence, the approval of ACPR is a necessary requirement for any business that includes being a third party in cryptocurrency exchange operations.
Surely, all the warnings that go side by side with any official statement on Bitcoin are also present. Thus ACPR reminds us that digital currencies are unstable, do not possess any legal protection in case they are lost or stolen and of course that wallets on our PCs are susceptible to hacking (as if cash is not susceptible to pickpocket). The regulator also did not forget to reference European Banking Authority, which has already discouraged people from using cryptos on numerous occasions.
The ones who will stay unaffected are Bitcoin users, last instructions from French officials do not touch upon the holders of digital currencies. However, there is always a catch. The authority also made it clear that Bitcoin traders who manage the exchange of cryptos to fiat and the other way around, have to work along with a registered provider. So, for an exchange platform that is stationed in France to make a simple act of selling Bitcoin to its customer, would require a transaction to be made through a payment institution or credit institution and so on.
Speaking of catch, due to the reason described above the fee that Bitcoin traders would ask for an act of selling or buying crypto could potentially grow higher. While it won’t be much noticeable for some time, ties that French regulators want establish between cryptos and traditional banking systems in a way negate the basic idea of Bitcoin. On the bright side though, the connection to such institutions would potentially bring more investors that were discouraged by the “rebellious spirit” that accompanied digital currencies with the arrival of Satoshi’s creation.
Again, the official statement by ACPR was tied to the Shem’s and Faiella’s arrests and investigation. As with Skandinavska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB AB), the policy was announced after a few days of media raving with news that former two has been selling cryptos to drug dealers connected with the infamous Silk Road.
As the avalanche of official statements on crypto regulations continues the price of Bitcoin so far is relatively stable (if can speak of stability, regarding Bitcoin). Either the popularity and big player involvement has made digital currencies tougher to such blows, or the crisis is yet to come, when regulations become stricter and more widespread.
Anyway, the Bitcoin is alive while the cryptomovement supports it, and I don’t see it gives up anywhere soon.