France blacklisted four crypto trading sites on Monday, because of their unauthorized investment offerings, financial regulator Autorite des marches financiers (AMF) explained. One of the sites is unavailable since midday UTC on Tuesday while the rest are still operational.
The blacklisted platforms have approached directly the French public, without having a registration with AMF, which is obligatory under the French transparency and anti-corruption regulations as stipulated in the Sapin II law of 2016.
AMF is warning the public against several companies proposing atypical investments without being authorized to do so, the regulator announced.
The sites are:
Bitoraxe, which is operational at the time of publishing, offers trading in Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), Dash (DASH), NEM (XEM), Monero (XRM) and Golem (GNT).
“Bitoraxe is a fintech startup specialized in crypto money and crypto investors, founded in 2014 by repeat entrepreneurs and settles of Bitcoin in Europe. The company is leader on the market proposing to individuals and professionals of purchasing and selling services of crypto money…,” the site claims.
Solutioncrypto, also operational, supports BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, XRM and DASH. It has only French language version. Solution-crypto redirects to Solutioncrypto.
Connect-coin is unavailable at midday UTC on Tuesday. The site shows a message that the IP address has changed and that the site has moved to a different server.
These practices are not new for the French regulator.
“These websites may change very quickly and this list is not intended to be exhaustive,” AMF warned on Monday.
AMF in the crypto world
It is the second time when AMF added crypto trading sites to its blacklist. In March, the regulator blacklisted 15 sites that offered unauthorized atypical crypto trading investments.
AMF is an independent regulatory body responsible for supervising stock markets. It is authorized for ex-ante (before the activity) control of investment proposals of miscellaneous assets, among others. It has been maintaining a blacklist since July 2017 and added crypto assets to miscellaneous category at the end of the year.
There are “various issues” related to cryptocurrency, including “tax evasion, money laundering or the financing of terrorism,” the AMF President Robert Ophele told French Magazine Challenges in October.