Preliminarily, the bill restricted influencer marketing to only licensed crypto enterprises, of which there are presently none in France.
French lawmakers have agreed to tone down the restrictions on a bill first offered in March that would have severely restricted locally-registered cryptocurrency companies from utilizing influencer marketing.
An earlier draft of the bill permitted only licensed crypto companies to engage in influencer marketing. Still, while crypto companies are presently needed to register with the regulator, none are presently licensed in France nor are they legally needed to do so.
On May 25, the French Senate spoke it reached a unanimous agreement on a bill that aims to regulate promotions by influencers for a wide variety of industries.
The altered bill presently only requires crypto enterprises registered with the Financial Markets Authority (AMF) — the nation’s financial regulator — to use influencers for their marketing efforts, according to French lawmakers Arthur Delaporte and Stéphane Vojetta in a statement.
The exact wording of the agreed bill is yet to be issued.
Presently, there are approximately 60 crypto enterprises registered with the AMF, and none have undertaken the optional licensing.
Translated, Delaporte and Vojetta’s release spoke that “ only financial products and cryptocurrencies from players registered with the AMF may be upgraded ” and agents from the financial watchdog, along with the controller for consumer affairs would “ have their control capacities strengthened. ”
Penalties for failure to comply with the laws include up to two years imprisonment and a 300,000 euro ($322,000) fine, along with the capability of prohibiting influencer activity.
Related: France mulls fast-tracking registered crypto firms to New EU Rules
Influencers ’ promotion of different products has similarly been restricted, including nicotine products similar to vapes. A prohibition on showing sports betting and gambling products to those under 18 years old would similarly come into effect.
The agreement comes as already in May, the Senate’s Committee on Economic Affairs approved an amendment that permitted AMF-registered crypto enterprises to undertake influencer marketing.
(JESSE COGHLAN, Cointelegraph, 2023)