France introduces new certificate for crypto influencers

The Autorité des Marchés Financiers says the initiative should help professionalize commercial influence.

France’s financial regulator, the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), has revealed a new online general training course to grant legitimate influencers a certificate.

In a press release, the agency said the initiative should help “professionalize commercial influence, an activity that is now regulated by law.” Influencers should give at least 75% correct answers to 25 multiple-choice questions to pass the so-called Responsible Influence Certificate. However, to obtain the certificate, influencers must also get the General Certificate, developed by the Autorité de Régulation Professionnelle de la Publicité.

The regulator emphasized the training module covers not only traditional investment products such as equities or ETFs, but also cryptocurrencies and crowdfunding.

Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani, chair of the AMF, said the certificate would “protect investors from financial products that are too complex or too risky.”

The AMF has been actively pushing for crypto regulation since the beginning of the year. In June 2023, Barbat-Layani advocated the mandatory licensing regime for unregistered service providers, including crypto.

However, as of press time, France is considered a crypto-friendly hub for several cryptocurrency-related businesses, such as Binance and Société Générale’s crypto unit, Forge, which are registered with the AMF. The registration process includes audits of companies’ governance and anti-money laundering compliance.