France’s Ministry Of Finance Labels Blockchain As “A Government Priority”

The Minister of Economy and Finance in France, Bruno Le Maire, is featured in the latest cryptocurrency news for his statement in which he endorsed blockchain technology and labeled it as a priority for his country’s government.

Le Maire was featured on many best cryptocurrency news sites for his statement given in an interview ahead of the Paris Blockchain Week Summit from April 16 to April 17. As proof of the country’s commitment to the nascent sector, Le Maire also revealed that the state plans to invest 4.5 billion Euros ($5 million) in breakthrough innovations – including blockchain – in a bid to fight Chinese and American technological dominance.

Aside from the funding, Le Maire also underscored the blockchain regulatory progress that was heralded by the PACTE Act which was passed by the French National Assembly earlier this week. During the interview, Le Maire characterized the bill as “an unprecedented and attractive legal framework for token issuers and digital asset service providers.”

When looking ahead to the agenda for the rest of 2019, Le Maire said that the government had identified a lot of new areas of focus for its blockchain policy. These apparently include the implementation of blockchain in French industrial sectors, the funding of innovative blockchain projects and the continuous support of these project in regards to the legal and regulatory issues.

The minister also proposed that France’s crypto taxation system offers a robust and transparent accounting framework that is specific to the new sector. Le Maire also cast the decline in the ICO market in a positive light, stating that it was necessary for the health of the sector and that the downturn “does not detract from the potential and benefits offered by the new funding method.”

He also stressed the need for blockchain protocols to evolve more energy-efficient mechanisms and to protect the financial system from crypto-facilitated money laundering risks.