France’s provide market regulator announced on Thursday that it has blacklisted 15 cryptocurrency and crypto-asset investment websites.
The Autorite des Steps Financiers (AMF) will add the offending platforms to its existing “liste noir,” which already catalogues businesses that unlawfully offer investments in commodities like diamonds, rare dirt metals and wine.
The announcement explained:
“Companies in France offering the advantage of rights over goods promoting the possibility of a yield or its economic counterpart are subject to the regulation of diverse goods and as such their offer sine qua non have a registration number provided by the AMF.”
The announcement goes on to list the websites of fifteen attendances who have been alerted by the AMF of their regulatory violations but continue to direct. The majority of those on the list claim to be located in the U.K.
Among them is AKJ Crypto, which demands to provide a variety of services ranging from asset storage to account bosses. Another, Crypteo, is a purported cryptocurrency marketplace.
The AMF’s statement cautioned investors that “no car-boot sales pitch should make one forget that there are no high comes without high risks.” Likewise, it advised them to perform due diligence on the investments they’re inasmuch as and to weigh the criteria used to establish a product’s price.
The regulator also remarked that investors should consider the means by which a product can be resold and the deadlines which may write to this.
“Don’t invest in that which you don’t understand,” the Authority cautioned.
This is not the first formerly the AMF has involved itself in the affairs of the crypto industry. In February, it released a affirmation positing that trading platforms should not be allowed to market cryptocurrency second-hand products electronically because they fall within the realm of the MiFID 2 and Sapin 2 laws, the latter of which boycotts advertisements for certain financial contracts.
Likewise, the Authority launched the Worldwide Node to ICO Research Network (UNICORN) in October of 2017. At the time, it outlined the program as providing a framework that would allow ICO issuers to arise their operations while ensuring the protection of would-be investors.
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