The French financial markets authority Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) said financial products based on Bitcoin (Bitcoin) and other cryptocurrencies such as futures, binary options and contracts for difference, should fall under the European Union's MIFID 2 derivatives regulation.
"A derivative with underlying cryptocurrency and unwinding by cash settlement is analysed as a financial contract. Therefore, the regulations applicable to the offering of financial instruments in France applies to derivatives on cryptocurrencies," the organisation said.
After having carried out a legal analysis of cryptocurrency derivatives, the AMF concluded:
“The AMF has reached the conclusion that platforms which offer these products must abide by the authorisation and business conduct rules, and that these products must not be advertised via electronic means,” the authority noted.
The AMF also published the summary of responses to the public consultation on initial coin offerings (ICO), summarizing 82 comments from the French public concerning ICOs and their regulatory fate.
It said among the 82 responses made to the Autorité des marchés financiers’ consultation, a large majority of respondents expressed support for setting up an appropriate legal framework for this new type of fundraising.
The AMF Board has decided to continue work on definition of a specific legal framework for ICOs.
The Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MIFID) is the EU legislation that regulates firms who provide services to clients linked to ‘financial instruments’ (shares, bonds, units in collective investment schemes and derivatives), and the venues where those instruments are traded.