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France's government is making a serious commitment to the future of blockchain technology. Finance minister Bruno Le Maire recently spoke at the Paris Blockchain Conference, as well as giving an interview where he mentioned the state's investments of around 4.5 billion EUR in the upcoming years.
Le Maire gave an interview to TrustNodes ahead of his speech at the conference. According to the minister, the French government has "identified more than 200 innovative blockchain projects developed in France", after a nationwidde call for proposals. The investment promised will be rolled out gradually over the next five years, in an effort to make the country a global leader in blockchain, competing with "the Chinese and American technological giants".
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Le Maire also talked about the country's increasingly crypto-friendly stance in terms of regulations. The Pact Act has created a new legal framework for companies issuing tokens. France's 2019 Finance Act saw a new ruling on capital gains tax concerning crypto-assets. The tax rate was lowered from 36% to 30%, hopefully encouraging more crypto-based projects to develop in the nation.
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