PARIS - The French regulator announced on Thursday that it has incorporated 15 cryptocurrency and crypto-asset websites into the blacklist. Autorite des Marches Financiers (AMF) will add the blacklisted platform to "liste noir", which includes blacklisting businesses that illegally offer investment in commodities such as diamonds, rare metals and grapes.
The announcement explains: "Companies in France that offer the purchase of rights to goods prom oting the probable outcome or economic equivalent must be subject to regulations on the diversity of goods, and therefore their offer must have the registration number provided by the AMF.
The announcement lists fifteen companies that have been notified by the AMF for breaches of the rules they have committed, but have remained in operation. The majority of those blacklisted are in the UK
Among these are AKJ Crypto, which claims to be able to provide services ranging from asset storage to account management. Others, Crypteo, a company that claims to be a cryptocurrency market.
The AMF statement warns investors that there is no sales promotion that should make someone forget that there is no high return without high risk. Likewise, the AMF advises the company to conduct due diligence on the investment they are considering and to weigh the criteria used to fix the price of a product.
The regulator also said that investors should consider the ways in which products can be resold and provide deadlines that may have been previously adjusted.
Do not invest in what you do not understand, the Authority warned.
This is not the first time AMF has been involved in the cryptocurrency industry. In February, AMF released a statement saying that trading platforms should not be allowed to market cryptocurrency derivatives electronically because they fall under the jurisdiction of MiFID 2 and Sapin 2, the latter banning advertising for certain financial contracts.
AMF has also launched Universal Node to ICO Research Network (UNICORN) in October 2017. At that time, the program describes itself as a framework that allows ICO issuers to expand their operations while ensuring the protection of potential investors