The voting time is coming and crypto-holders (ever more numerous) can now wonder what is going on with the program concerning cryptocurrencies..
In general, when we talk about crypto programs, we are only interested in taxation and taxes. However, there can (and must?) be other things such as incentives, or even subsidies granted to companies that innovate in this sector.
A quick overview of the programs of the 2022 presidential candidates.
To write this article, we based ourselves on the article published on the ZoneBourse newspaper who was able to interview the candidates regarding their programs regarding cryptocurrencies.
Also, we wanted to go further than the (light) crypto program of the candidates...And what if, deep down, we shouldn't rather "get moving" before asking politicians to do it?
Emmanuel Macron
For the first election, Emmanuel Macron had very quickly wanted to attract entrepreneurs and start-ups. We remember his "start-up nation" communication and his meetings at The Family with Osama Ammar for example…
Even if he was open with start-ups, he was less open with companies in the blockchain sector…
Indeed, regarding crypto, the president has taken tax measures that are unattractive for crypto holders. In any case, France, along with Spain, is the country with the greatest taxation on cryptos. Neighboring European countries such as Portugal, the United Kingdom and recently Slovenia (5% tax) on the contrary seem more able to welcome future blockchain companies.
For his current program, the president mentioned the idea of creating a " European metaverse"...which would have the ambition to dethrone the Facebook metaverse... Great ideas and great ambitions which clearly show to what extent the LREM (Macron's party) communications team has no idea of the mountain of work that must be done upstream before claiming to want to create such a "project"...
In any case, it has the merit of “getting people talking”, as they say.
Laws are currently in progress to possibly reduce taxation for NFT holders…Other than that, nothing new under the sun…
Jean-Luc Mélenchon
There was a lot of talk about Jean-Luc Mélenchon's meeting because it was the most futuristic ever held in France. A giant hologram of the candidate with a live broadcast in several cities. Olfactory sensors were even activated so that participants had a real sensory experience.
Finally, with this meeting, Jean-Luc Mélenchon showed himself to be the most "modernist" of all the candidates.
As for cryptos, the Insoumis party does not have a crypto program strictly speaking. On ZoneBourse, we nevertheless find this sentence “ We do not consider the blockchain as a technology that provides solutions for today’s major challenges ».
As with many other candidates, the candidate wants to focus on cyber-crime issues and create a software book agency. He would like to boost the cloud sector in France and be more competitive in this sector.
Anne Hidalgo
Now let's look at Anne Hidalgo's side. The party has put online the " Digital Manifesto " in which we can see that there is a real line for the development of cryptocurrency.
It is therefore the first party for this election where we clearly see a program for cryptocurrencies. The idea is to create financing bodies for investors, close to what the BPI does with French companies.
Anne Hidalgo would also like to harmonize the European regulatory framework for the management of crypto assets and make France a competitive market in this sector.
Close to Macron's idea of opening up computer programming in schools, Anne Hidalgo would like to emphasize training in new skills such as programming and cybersecurity.
—>Read and/or download the Hidalgo Manifesto, here.
Eric Zemmour
In February, Zemmour shook the Twitosphere by visiting the company's offices Ledger (one of the rare French companies with international influence). He declared that it was necessary to support the sector of the future that is cryptocurrencies.
Many have accused him of using cryptocurrencies for election purposes. Indeed, the libertarian philosophy behind the creation of Bitcoin is the opposite of the philosophy of the far right. The withdrawal into oneself and the fantasy of closed borders specific to thinkers of the extreme right adapt poorly to the very architecture of cryptocurrencies which do not know borders...
>>On the question of Zemmour, politics and cryptos, read the article by our colleagues Journal du Coin here.
The Reconquest Party would like to exempt capital gains tax if 50% of it is reinvested in the capital of a "real" company. One may wonder what "real" means...?
The party plans to create a special regime for NFT collectors and make NFTs classic works of art with the tax regime specific to this asset. Zemmour would also like to push for the creation of a stablecoin European.
Opinion: It seems that many crypto enthusiasts will vote for Eric Zemmour… It is difficult to imagine in this scenario that this will attract “foreign” experts and international companies to open up to the French market… Indeed, let us not forget that from a technological point of view, know-how is found more in Asia and America than in Europe…
Valerie Pécresse
Valérie Pécresse, the candidate for the Les Républicains party, would like to boost the crypto industry. His party would like to create clean legislation adapted to a European law on crypto-assets.
Like many candidates, Valérie Pécresse would like to increase research in terms of cybercrime.
The presidential candidates' program reflects the little use of cryptos in France
We have not mentioned the programs of Nathalie Arthaud or Philippe Poutou for the simple reason that there is no program at all.
We could of course talk about other candidates like Marine Le Pen or even Yannick Jadot. The latter expressed his doubts when energy consumption of bitcoin. He would then like to limit investment in cryptocurrencies while Marine le Pen would like to regulate it.
Both are more interested, like the other candidates, in cybercrime.
In fact, we see that what comes up most often in the programs is "cybercrime. This says a lot about the vision that politicians and a fortiori the French generally use cryptocurrencies. Cryptocurrencies still scare the general public and the image is still linked to cybercrime and hacker attacks...
This was an image we could understand a few years ago when Bitcoin was still mainly traded on darkweb sites like SilkRoad…But in 2022, this is a dated, if not retrograde, thought.
The sector has evolved enormously. Many French people have invested in cryptocurrencies and others will follow them in what seems to be the natural march of financial history...
Do not expect from politicians what should come from the people...
In short, today, it seems that France should not seek help from politicians so much to create a strong place in the crypto ecosystem. It must come from below ( bottom-up approach as we say in political science jargon). Nothing prevents the French from creating crypto companies at the moment. On the contrary, the country has a good infrastructure to do this.
Politicians will be interested in cryptocurrencies if they see that the people are interested in them. It's naive to think otherwise.
We need to have crypto engineers, entrepreneurs with strong ambition (not just salespeople) and personalities capable of designing blockchain technologies. It has to come from the people before it comes from the politicians.
If in the USA, the mayors of Miami or New York have come to launch projects as ambitious as citycoin, is that it came first from the people.
It is with this state of mind that France will be able to distinguish itself in this race towards progress that it seems not to want to take...
- Read more the ZoneBourse article
- To learn more about the candidates' programs.
This article is an opinion freely expressed by a Zonebitcoin editor. Everyone is free, of course, to form their own opinion and vote for whoever they wish.
