Baptist Morin
modified to
07:27, November 15, 2022
These are three letters that we hear a lot about in recent days: FTX. It is the name of the second largest cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt. And the fate of the American company could have serious repercussions in France.
It is now a reality: there are more French people who invest in cryptocurrencies than French people who invest in shares on the stock market. Nearly 5.5 million inhabitants of France have already purchased cryptocurrencies. And if they haven’t invested more than 10% of their savings, they may well feel the effect of FTX’s bankruptcy. Because if some create their own cryptocurrency portfolio and are therefore safe, others go through platforms like FTX.
There are also French cryptocurrency companies. Some used the services of FTX, a major player. But with the disappearance of the latter, the whole sector could suffer from the situation. “The fear is that there will be a loss of confidence because we will put all the players in the same basket”, fears Faustine Fleuret, president of the Association for the Development of Digital Assets.
Bitcoin has lost more than 70% in one year
“Unfortunately, we will say that it is the cryptos that are in question, when not at all”, she confides to the microphone of Europe 1. Because in reality, FTX fell due to poor management flirting with illegality. For their part, the French actors highlight the existence for three years already of a regulation here, which is not the case elsewhere. Anyway, in one year the value of Bitcoin has fallen by 72%.