French / European / Worldwide Regulation - Paris Blockchain Conference April 2019

[JannaOneTrick]

Just a heads up

Our Minister of the Economy and Finance is working very closely with Christine Largarde (IMF)

and is VERY BULLISH on digital assets

He wants regulation ASAP

France is on-board and full stream ahead

AND IT IS COMING AT AN INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

 

The Paris Blockchain Week is underway.

And I have a very interesting conference by our Minister of the Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, just below.

Also, I provided a thorough interview, all the way down, that you can google translate.

 

https://www.blockchainweekparis.com/

"We have all the assets to make France a country at the forefront of the #Blockchain. Discover the Blockchain strategy of France in my interview @MagazineCapital."

 

VIDEO LINK

https://www.economie.gouv.fr/paris-blockchain-conference-2019

Start at 3:15:20

Dan Morgan is also in a panel discussion, starting at 00:19:20

Or on Youtube, but you will have to read the transcript below

 

Transcript

Word for word

 

Quote

Good morning ladies and gentlemen,
I am very happy to conclude this first international conference outside Paris on the blockchain.

It is organized here at the Ministry of the Economy and Finance to demonstrate the state's support for this technology and our desire to make France a reference in blockchain development and its regulation at the international level.

I believe in the blockchain, I believe in this technology and I therefore believe in the necessity to regulate it correctly so that it can develop in the best possible conditions.

Why has France decided through its public authorities to take this technology seriously and give it all the means to develop it?

First, because beyond the technological innovation, there is in the blockchain a political aspiration:
That of decentralizing trust and replacing vertical authority with collective certification.
And I deeply believe in this ability to restore confidence by this chain of trust that is being put in place.
Everyone sees today that it is an important challenge to restore confidence, restore authority and that this trust can come simply from the collective opinion of citizens who trust each other through the blockchain.
So this is not an anarchist or libertarian utopia as some people try to describe it, it is a mutual trust that is built on a deeply democratic basis, where the value of each citizen's opinion is recognized.

Secondly, it is because the blockchain is a competitive model that I believe so deeply because it is in principle against monopolies and I consider that monopolistic situations are dangerous for economic development, dangerous for the economy, competition to which I am attached.
And it is clear today that this question of the monopolistic situation of certain giants of the digital economy has become from a financial point of view, from the technological point of view, from the economic point of view and also from the political point of view, an absolutely major subject.
And that the blockchain, by reintroducing competition can be one of the elements that allows to fight against its monopolies and this economic domination, one element among many others.
What we decided on the taxation of digital giants and that I went to explain to Washington a few days ago in the framework of the Spring Meeting organized by the IMF is a way of restoring justice and equity in situations that are monopolistic.
And thanks to the blockchain protocol, what I see is that the cards are rebated.
That the power of digital is rebuked by blockchains.
Since thanks to the blockchain protocol, users have the ability to create, animate their own network of money transfer, trade, services, without inter mediation of any platform.
So blockchain is a competitive freedom in a world that tends to become monopolistic.
This is also one of the reasons for our support.

Finally, the last reason is that anyway, whether we like it or not the blockchain will have an impact on our businesses.
And I prefer France to have one step ahead of these technologies, rather than being late.
Take the example of finance.
Everyone sees that the financial markets are built on a very complex infrastructure, stock markets, clearing houses, delivery systems, with a single purpose: to ensure total security of transactions.
Well, I think that the blockchains protocols may, in the long term, maybe not immediately, but in the long term replace these infrastructures and provide a complete and decentralized solution that will enable transactions to be made, to record and store value.
This revolution is already under way. And I'm delighted by the Liquid Share initiative, which uses the Ethereum blockchain, and which took off in Paris to modernize our market infrastructure.

And I see that many other Fintechs are developing on the basis of this technology, and I enjoy it.
That's what we're talking about most often.
The blockchain in finance.

But there are many other economic sectors that are concerned by the blockchain.
I can give the example of agriculture, its total traceability of products.
I can mention the issue of food, with the project Collecting Food, which was precisely led by a French startup and seeks to strengthen the traceability of our food.
I could quote the services, I could mention the smart contracts that automate certain tasks for the benefit of the consumer.

I could give 1000 examples.
What does this prove?

This proves that the blockchain is a safety given to the consumer in the economic sectors. It is a freedom given to entrepreneurs facing the monopoly of some of the digital giants.
And it is fundamentally, beyond an economic revolution, a true democratic revolution to which I believe deeply. Because, by expressing myself more as a political leader than as an economic leader, the question of trust, authority, the stability of the rules and the choices we make will be today at the heart of our contemporary societies.

The doubt seized all our compatriots. Criticism, skepticism has seized all our compatriots. And I do not think I can tell you very sincerely to break with this doubt or with this skepticism by an act of authority. It is not our vocation to put authoritarian powers in our democracies.

The solution will come from the consumer, the citizen, from all those who participate in economic life and the blockchain is a way to restore this democratic trust.
This is why, in my opinion, France must play its full part in this technological revolution.
We have all the means to be leaders. And when I hear sometimes that France has missed such a technological revolution or other, I do not agree with these opinions, I believe exactly the opposite.

We have startups that are successful in this area, and there are many entrepreneurs in this room who have just seized this technology.
At the beginning of the year, we undertook a consultation to better identify the actors of the blockchain, and we have identified 200 projects active or under development in France, I have already mentioned some. It is well expected that there is a time of activities and initiatives on the blockchain which are very auspicious.
We also have research and training centers. Inria, the Polytechnic School where our students and researchers are now trained in this technology are 2 examples among others of efficient research centers and training dedicated to the blockchain.

We also have large groups that allow the development of this technology. I could mention Carrefour, which I believe has launched the first blockchain food in Europe for more transparency and food safety. I could also mention ENGIE, which is working on a project to monitor the blockchain's consumption of water, gas and electricity.

We must therefore, on the basis of these technologies, these research centers, these large groups that have started to develop the blockchain, set up a framework that is as attractive as possible, that allows both to accompany, to facilitate and regulate.

We did it from 2017 to develop the blockchain in the financial sector.
I recall that we were the first European nation to define the concept of blockchain in the monetary and financial field. We allowed the use of the blockchain to record transactions on financial instruments that account for nearly 2 trillion assets. We have in the law of finance for May 2019 established a fiscal and accounting framework that is adapted to digital assets and their development. And finally last week, we voted definitively the bill PACTE that creates a unique framework in the world to guarantee the safety of token emissions and transactions of digital assets. And I would like to thank the parliamentarians I saw earlier who made it possible to write these pages, to listen to you the digital actors and the blockchain actors so that we have a framework that is the most favorable possible.

I remind you that what was retained as dispositive, and I believe a lot in that, is that the emitters of digital assets and the intermediaries can request a visa or an approval which will not be obligatory but optional.
The AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) may establish on this basis a white list of projects and intermediaries who have received this approval which remains optional. And we had very long debates in the National Assembly to know whether to make this compulsory or optional accreditation. I believe in freedom, I believe in responsibility and I think it's much better to have an optional framework where everyone has the freedom to register on this white list or not rather than having a mandatory framework.
In any case, I am convinced that this framework that we have put in place, in the PACTE law, will make the blockchain in France an international model of reference. And I'm not saying that just like that in the air, I remember the discussions we had a few weeks ago with Christine Lagarde on this issue on the development of the blockchain and Christine Lagarde identified the model put in place under the PACTE Act as one of the international benchmarks.

We must now take a new step.
We believe in it, we have the assets to develop it, we have a regulatory framework set under the PACTE Act, and I think that now we must go further and further accelerate the deployment of this technology.

The first issue is to allow the deployment of this technology throughout the industry and in our services, not just in a number of areas that I have already mentioned.

Three industrial sectors are now committed to developing blockchain technology in their businesses:
This is the construction industry, to secure the stages of the course of thermal renovation.
The agri-food industry, to develop traceability tools that will become more and more essential for the consumer in terms of food.
And the energy industry, to issue and secure certificates of solar energy production.

The State will support the development of the blockchain in these 3 sectors and in all the following sectors in the framework of these strategic contracts of sectors. And invite all other channels that we have set up to participate in this development of the blockchain.

The second direction we need to accelerate is to continue to support innovation in this cutting-edge technology.
We have hundreds of blockchain projects, some of which I am told about regularly, but do not have sufficient funds to guarantee and market their products.
And the state must invest through the funds it has to accelerate innovation in the blockchain.

Today, we have all confused, 4.5 billion euros available to finance disruptive innovations in the next 5 years. Well, I repeat that I prefer to see the state invest in breakthrough innovation through these fundings rather than continue to receive dividends in activities that are not at the heart of what the state should do.

In the short term, we will launch the growth innovation competition, financed by the investment program for the future, with a call for projects which is open until May 14th and which will make it possible to finance innovative projects with high potential for growth for the French economy especially based on this blockchain technology.

The third essential element is to continue to adapt our legal environment to the blockchain, at national level but also at European and international level.
I spoke to you about the framework of the project of the PACTE law now adopted.
But changes to our legal framework will certainly be necessary to allow this technology to be adapted to other sectors.
We have here a counter, called France Experimentations, which will provide priority support and strengthened blockchain project holders in the legal challenges they encounter. Because I had on a number of occasions a number of entrepreneurs or young startup creators who told me:

"We want to develop the blockchain in such area but we face this or that legal problem"

here at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, we have put in place the mechanisms to answer your legal problems and allow you to remove these obstacles.

Faced with this technology, which by definition is an international technology, this regulatory framework will only be effective if we are able to put in place a regulation at European and international level.

I therefore propose to my European counterparts the setting up of a unique framework for the regulation of digital assets, inspired by the French experience, and allowing the establishment of a real level playing field at European level. Our regulation is the right one, it has been greeted internationally as I told you, I will propose that this French regulation of the blockchain serve as a model for the development of a regulation of the blockchain at the European level so that we have a unique blockchain market as there are other unique markets in other areas.

I will also continue to encourage work on this topic at the G20 level, following the initiative I took with my German counterpart last year.

Finally, we must reflect on the blockchain's economic development model and its conciliation with the exercise of our sovereignty.
There are indeed questions of safety, which are constantly sent back to us in the face when you speak of the blockchain and which we must treat, without dismissing them with the back of hand, as if it did not deserve consideration.

Everyone knows that the use of digital assets can also allow the financing of illegal activities, the financing of terrorism or money laundering. And it is a complaint that is made frequently and that must lead to strong responses so that we can develop these technologies safely.

It also causes environmental challenges. We are constantly talking about the mining activity, which validates transactions in blockchain protocols but requires considerable amounts of energy that are incompatible with our environmental objectives.

We therefore need technological advances, this is the last point on which I would like to insist, to answer these two challenges.
Total safety and to prevent technology from being diverted from its purpose and against global warming, to have a technology that is sustainable and uses less energy than it currently does.
Still on these issues of safety of the technology, I also wish that we engage a mission of reflection to allow the development of a model of blockchain, sure, and compatible with the exercise of our sovereignty because everyone sees well that technological hand-over by a small number of actors with large computing and funding capacities could pose a major sovereignty problem.

Those are the few things I wanted to introduce this morning.

You can see that in my eyes we have blockchain technology, an essential technology for the 21st century, for our economy, for trade, and for the restoration of consumer confidence.
This question of confidence in the economy, of political confidence, of consumer confidence is one of the major political issues of the 21st century.
The blockchain will be one of the answers to this challenge.

And for this response to be effective it must be part of a regulation that is open and effective at the same time.
This is the regulation that we have proposed in the context of the PACTE law.
We need to use this first step to develop them at the European level and at the international level, that's what we're going to do.

You have to have the funds available to be able to develop this with all the necessary fullness because in this area, as in many others, "small is not beautiful".

We must aim great, we must aim hard, if we want to compete with American giants or Chinese. And the development of financial means is, in my eyes, essential to allow the development of this technology.

Lastly, we must guarantee the absolute safety of the technology. It is all the thoughts that I invite you to make about respect for sovereignty and to avoid misuse of this technology for purposes that are illicit.

In this context, I am convinced that we can make France the European leader of the blockchain and tomorrow one of the world leaders of this technology, do you see that it is for me promising and full of future.

Thank you all

 

Bonus

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-cryptocurrencies/france-to-ask-eu-partners-to-adopt-its-cryptocurrency-regulation-idUSKCN1RR1Y0

https://www.capital.fr/economie-politique/bruno-le-maire-le-developpement-de-lecosysteme-blockchain-est-une-priorite-pour-le-gouvernement-1335182

Capital is a monthly French economics and business magazine published in Paris.

It is a thorough interview, the one he mentioned in his tweet above. You can google translate it, it is very detailed and optimistic.

 

I want to thank you for reading it through.

It took me 3h overall to do this post and make it as easy to read as possible.

IT IS SO EXCITING!!!

Edited April 16, 2019 by JannaOneTrick

[quetzalcoatl]

wow @JannaOneTrick thank you so much for taking the time to translate this for us.

"Everyone sees today that it is an important challenge to restore confidence, restore authority and that this trust can come simply from the collective opinion of citizens who trust each other through the blockchain."

"The solution will come from the consumer, the citizen, from all those who participate in economic life and the blockchain is a way to restore this democratic trust."

Such a well written speech from a politician who seems to actually understand what is taking place here.  The dominoes are starting to fall and our ideas and plans are spreading to every corner of the earth.  With Ripple in particular we are Democratizing finance, and are beginning to see a race to the bottom which should become more and more prevalent as the Ripplenet network becomes more expansive.  Finance and some of the other industries that are spoken about by Mr. Bruno Le Maire have become walled gardens of inefficiency and overhead costs that are passed on to consumers and employees.  In a growing world there is absolutely a need for Trust and Blockchain delivers that immutable trust better than anything we have ever created!

[JannaOneTrick]

@quetzalcoatl

Thank you!

This is exactly my own feeling when listening to the whole conference! He truly understands the underlying questions of blockchain and its potential!

It made me believe we are underestimating governments in actually understanding the technology (at relatively deep levels).

[mandelbaum]

Thanks for taking the time to translate.

Looks like the swedes are waking up too, Safellos aim is to be the Coinbase of Europe:

https://bithomp.com/explorer/rnGakV39V4M2Zbo6Na4TupwB9JXR4SRdKW

[quetzalcoatl]

16 minutes ago, mandelbaum said:

Thanks for taking the time to translate.

Looks like the swedes are waking up too, Safellos aim is to be the Coinbase of Europe:

https://bithomp.com/explorer/rnGakV39V4M2Zbo6Na4TupwB9JXR4SRdKW

Am i seeing this correctly?  Bitstamp sent them XRP for wallet creation, and it might soon be able to be purchased on the Safellos platform?

[mandelbaum]

6 minutes ago, quetzalcoatl said:

Am i seeing this correctly?  Bitstamp sent them XRP for wallet creation, and it might soon be able to be purchased on the Safellos platform?

I sure hope so.

[mistatee2000]

1 hour ago, JannaOneTrick said:

@quetzalcoatl

Thank you!

This is exactly my own feeling when listening to the whole conference! He truly understands the underlying questions of blockchain and its potential!

It made me believe we are underestimating governments in actually understanding the technology (at relatively deep levels).

Great post and just what is needed, particularly on this forum at the moment when some seem to doubt everything, not thinking that so much is happening in this ecosystem which will benefit the companies and currencies that are putting so much effort in to developing their offerings -  XRP being a prime beneficiary over time.

[Julian_Williams]

Great Post.  Whilst an incompetent British PM fiddles with Brexit France steams ahead trying to grab the European financial crown.  France is getting its act together.

So much interesting good news.  This video is perhaps not altogether relevant to this thread, other than  illustrating again the huge scale of the markets that Ripple are laying foundations with and targeting.

 

[JannaOneTrick]

@Julian_Williams

Thanks Julian.

The video you posted even further confirms the benchmark the DTCC commissioned between Accenture, R3 Corda Settler and DA.

I am so glad the government of my country is pushing blockchain / DA regulation.

Edited April 16, 2019 by JannaOneTrick

[Julian_Williams]

I have to admit I am out of my depth with a lot of this financial information - it just all seems to be happening on a huge scale and very fast (relative to the scale of the task).  You might look at the developments in SE Asia video too (see my thread Zennon Kapron's - "Latest Trends with Southeast Asia and Beyond. (26 Mar 2019)")  - because what is happening in that market is advancing very rapidly too.  Again huge.  Everyone on XRPchat is discussing DS wallet and smearing Ripple whilst all this important stuff is breaking around us.

Edited April 16, 2019 by Julian_Williams

[mm421wsp]

5 minutes ago, Julian_Williams said:

discussing DS wallet and smearing Ripple

SMH...those jokers in the box are out of their minds.  

[Roaring_Twenties]

On 4/16/2019 at 6:26 AM, JannaOneTrick said:

And I prefer France to have one step ahead of these technologies, rather than being late.

"Vive la France!"  He even went to Washington to try and talk sense into them.  I'm glad he's as motivated as he is and I'm glad France has leadership willing to make a move.  Having a country take the lead and start to enjoy the rewards is exactly what it will take to get other nations to make a move.  And that will benefit all of us.

Outstanding work @JannaOneTrick - you've been really crushing it lately.