As I’ve already suggested, current U.S. law does not have direct answers to these questions. Digital currencies can fall into a variety of categories: commodities or securities or other instruments. How a digital currency is classified will depend partly on the functional use of the digital currency and partly on the priorities of various lawmakers and regulatory agencies that have the authority to regulate it. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), the primary U.S. authority responsible for implementing U.S. anti-money laundering laws, was one of first authorities to issue guidance in the United States on digital currencies. FinCEN clarified in 2013 that transmitters and exchangers of digital currency are money service businesses under FinCEN regulations, if the digital currency acts as a substitute for real currency or has an equivalent value in real currency.20 Accordingly, any person that engages in the business of transferring or exchanging digital currency is subject to FinCEN requirements to establish an anti-money laundering program, which includes recordkeeping, reporting, and customer identification and verification requirements.21 FinCEN’s early entrance into the field sought to address the fact that digital currencies, like other forms of payment, may be used for nefarious purposes. Fast forward to 2017. Jay Clayton, the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the federal agency that regulates securities, released a statement on digital currencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs).
We should stress here that, of the larger euro area countries, France has the highest proportion of market-based financing, at 40%. Non-bank financing in France totals EUR 1.748 trillion, and the leading asset manager in Europe is a French firm, Amundi. France also has an internationally recognised regulator, in the form of the AMF, while Paris is home to the European Securities and Markets Authority, ESMA. After Brexit, I also have every reason to believe that a significant share of the market activities of the largest global banks will be based in Paris. First of all, I want to put an end to the non-debate over whether market-based financeis better than bank-based finance and vice versa, and the misconception that the US system should be 1/3  BIS central bankers' speeches  replicated in Europe: working towards a balanced development of non-bank finance simply means giving companies the option of diversifying their debt financing. Fun damentally, the real debate lies elsewhere: it is about switching from debt to equity.This is crucial in advanced economies, where growth is dependent on innovation. Equity financing is better suited to the uncertainty and often long-term returns associated with innovative projects. The euro area is seriously lagging behind in this respect: equity only accounts for 74% of GDP, compared with 125% in the United States. Moreover, it only makes up half of the total external financing of euro area corporations (equity + debt), compared with three quarters in the United States.