France Is On Periphery Of ICO Market — Report

According to the research, the global ICO market has reached 19.4 billion euros ($21.8 billion) since 2014. The major part of these funds was attracted in 2017, when the crypto market experienced growth, and in the first nine months of 2018, during which ICO projects managed to raise 13.4 billion euros ($15 billion).

Based on the report, France constitutes a small part of this market with 89 million euros ($100 million) attracted by 15 ICO projects, while a large part of the initial offerings was held in the US. Thus, the share of France in the global ICOs in 2017 was only 1.6%.

AMF emphasizes the particular importance of ICO in raising funds for the development of small companies. It is expected that such projects will be implemented in other fields and will attract about 180 million euros ($202.6 million).

The Authority claims the market is in need of proper regulation to protect investors, ensure compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements, and achieve a high transparency level in this area. Besides, international cooperation is necessary for the regulation, considering the cross-border nature of ICOs.

The AMF report was published one year after the launch of the UNICORN program, designed to determine the regulatory principles for raising funds in the field of cryptocurrency and blockchain.