French Financial Minister Bruno Le Maire changes his mind on cryptocurrencies in an interview with French News website Numerama.
The pro-cryptocurrency consensus at this year’s first G20 discussion has led French Financial Minister Bruno Le Maire to see the benefit in the use of blockchain technology. This is an interesting move from the French minister, given his apparent opposition only a month earlier when he requested a governmental crackdown on cryptocurrencies. In that request, Le Maire, along with the governor of the Bank of France, and two German Financial leaders, urged the financial officials of G20 to see cryptocurrencies as a threat to investors and global financial stability.
While it is not clear what exactly caused him to change his mind, it is likely that the Bank Of England Governor Mark Carney’s comments about cryptocurrencies current inability to threaten the global economy helped him see cryptocurrencies differently.
Now, Le Maire wants France to be a leader in creating the future of blockchain technology. He believes that ICO’s are an effective crowdfunding technique for blockchain technology startups. He also proposed some criteria for ICO’s to meet, saying: “France has every interest in becoming the first major financial center to propose an ad hoc legislative framework that will allow companies initiating an ICO to demonstrate their seriousness to potential investors.” He believes that cryptocurrencies could disrupt banks, but that we should “anticipate them. Let’s not be mere spectators: become actors in this revolution.”
Le Maire did warn that the cryptocurrency market is currently highly volatile and therefore can be dangerous, citing the current price of bitcoin being less than half its price in December 2017. Nevertheless, Le Maire closed his comments to Numerama saying that a “regulatory vacuum” should be avoided to allow innovation and development of this technology to take place.
Written by: Garrett