remedy market inefficiencies : this could be done in the area of international multi - currency payments, for example, with a view to improving the conditions under which individuals transfer funds abroad. diversifying project financing methods : a prime example would be icos, which have enabled swift and large - scale fundraising in the network technologies sector in the past two years. 3. yet for all that, can crypto - assets become true currencies that will revolutionise our payment system, providing the decisive innovation that will lead us to the cashless society that some people are predicting and even hoping for? for the time being, this seems unlikely because existing crypto - assets are far from perfect. as many central bankers have pointed out, today ’ s crypto - assets do not satisfactorily offer the qualities expected of a currency and cannot be considered as such : first, their value fluctuates enormously, preventing them from being used as units of account. as a result, very few prices are denominated in crypto - assets and not many large brick - and - mortar or online retailers accept bitcoin for example, although there are some exceptions [ i. e. showroomprive. com, france ’ s second largest flash sale web retailer, which has accepted bitcoins since 2014 ]. second, as intermediaries in exchanges, crypto - assets are far less effective than a currency with legal tender status, insofar as ( i ) their price volatility makes it hard to use them as a means of payment, ( ii ) they generate transaction fees that are far too high for simple retail transactions, and ( iii ) they offer no guarantee of a refund in the event of fraud. third, the fact that they have no intrinsic value means that they cannot be used to create trustworthy stores of value. in addition, crypto - assets may be conduits for financial risk, security risk and especially risks of cyber - attacks, money laundering and terrorist financing. these would represent major risks for users and hence for the orderly functioning of our payment system if crypto - assets were ever to play a major role in that system. ii - in this complicated context, with crypto - assets undergoing technical and economic trials that offer opportunities but also present material risks for our payment system, should we consider establishing a regulatory framework and supervisory approach and, if so, how should we go about this? 1 ) various courses of action

are doubtless aware, the authorisation and labelling schemes mentioned in the pacte bill are optional. but there is an exception when it comes to anti - money laundering and terrorist financing ( aml / tf ) mechanisms. european regulators have been firm in their resolve not to compromise in any way on this matter. accordingly, the fifth european anti - money laundering directive makes all participants handling digital assets subject to applicable aml / tf provisions. this is consistent with the system in place since 2014 in france, which states that an exchange of crypto - assets in euro requires a payment services provider authorisation, and, accordingly, compliance with aml / tf rules. to take account of the experimental phase that crypto - assets are presently in and to satisfy the key requirements of ensuring payment security while encouraging innovation in the area, a possible alternative to the optional approach currently favoured by the pacte bill would be to maintain a proportional approach. this has been the basis for the european regulation of payment services up to now and consists in setting a mandatory framework whose requirements are adjusted according to the nature, development stage and risk of the associated services. this approach was employed under the second payment services directive ( psd2 ) to regulate the market development of account aggregators and payment initiators. in conclusion, it is hard to anticipate the role that crypto - assets might play in the payment system of the future, especially since the characteristics and features of these assets look set to change considerably. right now, there are major limitations to their everyday use in retail payments, and crypto - assets still have to prove their attractiveness in this regard, particularly since an extensive range of payment solutions is available, and these solutions continue to modernise to address the need for instant exchanges, with, for example, 4 / 5 bis central bankers'speeches the introduction of mobile payment solutions and instant transfers. that said, the underlying technologies that i mentioned, and especially blockchain, open up interesting development prospects for major payment and market infrastructures. uncertainty over the future of crypto - assets in the world of payments does not relieve us of the need to regulate their development, given the attendant risks. adopting a framework that protects participants in the real economy will help to increase their confidence in the mechanisms associated with crypto - assets, thereby promoting growth in the new assets. the intrinsically digital and global nature of crypto - assets means however that a coordinated international approach must be taken to avoid