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EthCC officially opens, Paris is in the midst of a crypto feast.

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Will Paris with its inherent fashion label seamlessly integrate with the Web3 world?

Original Title: "Paris | A Moving Feast of Cryptography"

Original Author: Beosin Donny, Eaton, Dorit

Around 1920, Hemingway lived in Paris as a correspondent in Europe. "A Moveable Feast" records the author's daily life during that time.

However, the writing of this book was done almost forty years later. In other words, the "scene" of the feast has long disappeared, and both the author and the reader are only chasing after those past years in memory. Regardless of whether it is the author or the reader, these memories have already become blurred and distorted through the lens of time.

All memories related to Paris are mixed into a common historical memory of Paris.

In this semi-autobiographical and semi-fictional work, the customs and scenes of the Parisian literary circle in the 1920s are slowly unfolding. Those figures who were once influential in the world of literature and art are vividly sketched with just a few strokes, forever intertwined with the city and this book.

And now, 100 years later, the city of Paris is embarking on a new feast - the Web3 encryption feast.

Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC), a dynamic crypto feast

One of the most lively events in Paris recently is the Ethereum Community Conference ( EthCC) held from July 17th to 20th in Paris, France. EthCC is hosted by the non-profit organization Ethereum France and has been held in Paris since 2018, aiming to provide more communication opportunities for startups and investors.

At the 2020 conference, Jerome de Tychey, founder and chairman of Ethereum France, stated that "in the next decade, we will continue to aim to revitalize the industry and establish meaningful connections within the community. One point we want to emphasize is that we welcome the global French-speaking community to join the Ethereum ecosystem."

The EthCC of this year will be held from July 17th to 20th local time. Since last month, tickets for EthCC have been hard to come by, and the conference has been extended from three days to four days compared to last year. For both Ethereum developers and the entire cryptocurrency community, it is the most anticipated event after EDCON Montenegro this year.

In Paris, another event worth paying attention to is the DeFi Security Summit on July 15th. Following the success of the first DeFi Security Summit held at Stanford, the second summit will be held in Paris, France.

Within two days, attendees will listen to the world's leading DeFi security researchers, auditors, and hackers share their unique ways of working. As a global leader in blockchain security, Beosin will certainly not miss this opportunity to obtain the latest industry trends, and Beosin's security experts will also be on-site to communicate with everyone.

Over the past year, new DeFi hacks have emerged one after another. According to the Beosin Security Semi-Annual Report, the loss amount in just the first half of this year alone reached $600 million. Preventing and resolving these attacks is not only crucial for protecting existing users, but also for the development of the entire DeFi market. We look forward to the DeFi Security Summit bringing more inspiration and innovation to the global DeFi market.

DeFi Security Summit on-site.

Will Paris with its own fashion label integrate perfectly with the Web3 world?

Vogue Business mentioned in a March report how Paris has become the best fusion ground for the fashion industry and the Web3 world. Just a few days before the opening of Paris Fashion Week in March this year, the NFT industry conference NFT Paris still attracted a global audience to discuss the future of fashion. The juxtaposition of NFT Paris and Paris Fashion Week implies the unique ability of this city to attract the integration of Web3 and fashion. Paris has formed a unique position to bridge the gap between the luxury fashion industry and the technology industry, and can still provide early interpretations of industry sentiment in the bear market of cryptocurrency.

At the NFT Paris conference, venture capital firm A16Z hosted a dinner for luxury brands, NFTs, and industry leaders. Executives from companies such as Balmain, Shopify, and Chanel attended alongside Web3 founders Pagotto and Leanne Elliott-Young from Rtfkt. Fashion brands that have recently favored virtual art forms, such as Balmain, remained the focus of the conference. For example, Balmain partnered with Space Runners to launch the latest Phygital sports shoe NFT series, while RTFKT, a crypto fashion brand belonging to Nike, announced a capsule collection with crypto hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger. The collection includes a custom white Ledger Nano S Plus and Nano X, both of which will be sold virtually and can be exchanged for physical items.

The hot holding of numerous exhibitions has demonstrated the support of Paris and its government for the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry. In fact, Paris has attracted many well-known cryptocurrency companies and organizations, such as ConsenSys and Ledger. With the continuous development of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, we have reason to believe that Paris will continue to play an important role in this field.

Those Web3 encryption institutions "growing" in Paris

After conducting research, Beosin found that Paris is very friendly to the crypto ecosystem, emphasizing innovation. Several top Web3 companies have chosen Paris as their headquarters:

1. Ledger Hardware Wallet

In 2014, Ledger started with manufacturing hardware wallets and launched a series of products such as Ledger Nano. At the same time, it also launched the Ledger Live app to provide users with services such as buying, selling, transferring, and borrowing. In 2021, Ledger completed a Series C financing of $385 million with a valuation of $1.4 billion, and additionally raised $108 million for the Series C financing this year, with participation from institutions such as 10T, Cathay Innovation, and DCG.

2. Flowdesk

Flowdesk was founded in 2020 and is registered with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF) and the Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR). It mainly provides market-making services for cryptocurrency exchanges and DeFi projects, and has served more than 85 exchanges. In addition, Flowdesk also provides digital asset management, brokerage, and custody services. In 2022, Flowdesk completed a $30 million Series A financing round with participation from institutions and angel investors such as Coinbase, Ledger, Eurazeo, Aglaé Ventures, ISAI, Speedinvest, and Fabric.vc.

3. Kaiko

Kaiko was founded in 2014 and provides market data, portfolio solutions, interest and index rates, pricing services, DeFi data, and digital asset research covering over 95% of global trading volume for institutional companies, DeFi, and Web3 enterprises. Its clients and partners include Deutsche Boerse, ICE Global Network, Messari, and Paxos. In 2021, Kaiko completed a $24 million Series A funding round led by Anthemis and Underscore. In June 2022, Kaiko completed a $53 million Series B funding round led by Eight Roads, with participation from French venture capital firms Revaia, Alven, Point Nine, Anthemis, and Underscore.

4. ACINQ

ACINQ was founded in 2014, focusing on the deployment of Eclair lightning network and mobile wallet applications, and developing lightning network payment API services for merchants. In 2015, ACINQ began researching the Bitcoin lightning network. In 2017, it implemented its own lightning network protocol - Eclair and launched a corresponding lightning network wallet. In 2019, ACINQ completed a Series A funding round of $8 million, led by Idinvest Partners, with participation from venture capital firms Serena and French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance. Subsequently, ACINQ launched its second-generation lightning network self-hosted wallet Phoenix, making it more convenient for users to use the lightning network for payments.

Other Web3 project teams such as Morpho Labs, Aleph.im, Pianity, ParaSwap are also in Paris, in addition to the aforementioned companies.

Regulatory Policies and Future in Paris

A cryptocurrency-friendly city can be defined as a city with a proactive legal framework for the flourishing development of cryptocurrencies, while enhancing consumer confidence and reducing fraud risks. Despite many countries racing to better adapt to the rapidly evolving decentralized financial world, France has long been a leader in this field.

In April 2019, the French National Assembly passed a law called PACTE (Action Plan for Business Growth and Transformation) aimed at boosting the French economy. The law includes a chapter on digital assets, which establishes a legal framework for cryptocurrency service providers and initial token offerings. The framework focuses on:

1. The regulatory responsibility for cryptocurrency assets is exercised by the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF).

2. If the initiator of an ICO project meets certain conditions, they can apply to the AMF for issuance approval.

3. Issuers, trading platforms, custodians, and investors of regulated cryptocurrencies must pay taxes on the profits they obtain from these assets.

4. Two types of funds can invest in digital assets: professional cryptocurrency investment funds and professional private equity investment funds.

Clearer regulatory policies provide a legal basis for the industry, which will help to promote the development of France's cryptocurrency asset industry and economy. The introduction of this regulatory framework demonstrates the French government's relatively open attitude towards the blockchain and cryptocurrency asset industry.

In May of this year, the European Union issued the Markets in Crypto-assets Regulation (MiCA), which was published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) on June 9th. This will create a unified virtual asset market covering 500 million consumers and 27 EU member states. MiCA will officially come into effect on December 30th, 2024, after an 18-month transition period.

MiCA is part of the European Union's Digital Finance Strategy package at the macro level, which will unify the following rules of EU member states: transparency and disclosure requirements for the issuance and trading access of crypto assets; authorization and supervision of crypto asset service providers and issuers; operation, organization, and governance rules for asset-referenced tokens, electronic-money tokens, and other crypto asset service providers; consumer protection rules for crypto assets; measures to prevent market abuse and ensure the integrity of the crypto asset market. Overall, MiCA primarily regulates:

(1) Various types of crypto-assets, including E-Money Tokens, Asset-Referenced Tokens, and other Tokens; (2) Various types of crypto-asset services and service providers, including wallet custody services, deposit and withdrawal services, exchange services, asset management services, investment advisory services, etc.

As one of the few countries in Europe to regulate cryptocurrencies before the EU's MiCA regulations, France has announced that it will provide a fast track for cryptocurrency companies registered in France to comply with stricter MiCA rules, including stricter governance, consumer protection, and financial stability rules. According to MiCA regulations, companies already registered in France will have an additional 18 months to comply with the stricter MiCA rules.

France is actively promoting the development of virtual asset business while insisting on strict regulation of related activities to ensure the safety of consumers and the market.

Recently, the Paris prosecutor's office confirmed that Binance's French subsidiary is under investigation by local authorities for allegedly providing "illegal" digital asset services and engaging in "serious money laundering activities". However, Binance founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), stated on Twitter that "in France, sudden on-site visits to regulated companies are normal. Binance France is fully cooperating with the investigation. Binance is not the only cryptocurrency company being inspected. This has also happened to other well-known cryptocurrency companies in Paris."

Obviously, although the French government supports investment and trading activities in cryptocurrency, its regulation of the virtual asset market remains very strict.

写在最后

translates to

Written at the end

Among the countless fictional or non-fictional works about Paris in history, "The Feast of Life" is one of the most famous. The dedication on its title page - "If you were lucky enough to live in Paris when you were young, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast" - has become a "cultural business card" for Paris and is widely circulated.

And now, as encryption becomes Paris's new "label", what kind of changes and innovations will this city undergo? Let's wait and see.