French finance companies with interest in crypto are getting ready for the adoption of European MiCA regulations, as the country becomes the first to accept applications under the incoming framework.
MiCA is due to come into effect on 30 December 2024, and France’s monetary authority, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has opened up an application window. Companies have been able to apply to become a crypto-asset service provider since 1 July 2024.
The move may give French financial stakeholders a chance to gain an early advantage ahead of MiCA’s imposition. The European Union (EU) wide regulations will require companies wishing to provide crypto services to secure authorisation from a national financial authority.
There are, of course, already a number of companies already providing such services, and so the AMF has set up a transition period for such companies, open until 30 June 2026.
Firms already engaged in crypto operations as a digital asset services provider (DASP), described by the AMF as ‘simple’ or ‘enhanced’ registrations, under the country’s PACTE framework will have this two-year window to transition into the MiCA regime.
The AMF noted that MiCA will have more stringent requirements for crypto-asset providers, both in France and elsewhere, than France’s PACE and DASP systems. The regulator recommends that interested companies “prepare as early as possible”.
Some companies are already making plans for crypto activity within the scope of the MiCA framework, five months ahead of the introduction. For example, Next Generation, a newly formed fintech affiliated with Temp France, is planning a relaunch of the EURT stablecoin.
EURT is a stablecoin pegged to the Euro, first launched by Tempo France, a well established European fintech, back in 2017, but it was later suspended due to the absence of a regulatory framework.
Tempo France and Next Generation are hopeful that MiCA will effectively provide a green light for relaunching the project. The duo have partnered with Irish firm DECTA, identifying the firm as an ideal issuer for the coin due to its Electronic Money Institution (EMI) licence with the Central Bank of Ireland.
“The implementation of MiCAR has opened a new era in the history of the segment of modern digital finance in Europe,” said Suren Hayriyan, President of Next Generation.
“As the share of European coins is currently unfairly low, we will witness a very rapid increase in their positions. The demand for Euro stablecoins is extremely high. Companies, entrepreneurs and private users today lose a lot on forced conversions.
“I do not expect, of course, that we will soon see parity in the positions of American and European coins in the near future. But I have no doubt that there will be a rapid growth to the proportions in which these fiat currencies are now.”