France Goes Crypto-Friendly As Stablecoin Giant Circle Sets Up Shop In Paris

Stablecoin giant Circle Internet Financial Ltd. is set to establish its European headquarters in Paris, citing the favorable cryptocurrency environment created by President Emmanuel Macron’s government as instrumental in the decision.

Circle CEO, Jeremy Allaire, stated in an interview with Bloomberg that Paris would serve as a base for the company’s digital assets and on-shoring its new stablecoin product, EUROC, which aims to be redeemable one-to-one with the euro.

Allaire also stated that Circle will build on its existing footprint in Dublin and London to expand its presence in the European Union.

Allaire said, "Both for commercial and policy reasons, we believe that France is the right center for us as we look to scale this business in Europe."

The announcement was made during Paris Blockchain Week, which comes at a challenging time for Circle, as its hallmark stablecoin product, USD Coin USDC/USD, lost its dollar value for several days this month after Circle revealed that $3.3 billion in cash reserves for the token were temporarily trapped at Silicon Valley Bank SIVB.

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The company has since moved these reserves to the Bank of New York Mellon.

Circle has filed an application with the French markets authority to become registered as a digital asset service provider, and with the banking authority to become a licensed electronic money institution.

It is the latest large crypto company to choose Paris as a European hub after digital-asset exchanges Binance Holdings Ltd. BNB/USD and Crypto.com made similar pledges in the last two years.

France established a regulatory framework for crypto in 2019, with a simple registration process for companies.

The process requires businesses to provide evidence of managers’ “good repute and skills” and establish anti-money laundering procedures.

French digital minister Jean-Noël Barrot stated that Circle’s decision was the result of efforts “to make France a most attractive place” to develop crypto assets and blockchain technologies.

Barrot further stated that recent developments in the cryptocurrency industry, including the FTX FTT/USD scandal, have not toned down France’s effort to attract cryptocurrency investments.

The minister said, “There have been some recent developments in the field of crypto that validate the approach that we have, that Circle has, that you need sound regulation in order for this market to develop in a sustainable way.”

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