Crypto in France : Structuring of the Sector and Adoption by the General Public

The Blockchain & B2B Platforms Chair at Ecole Polytechnique aims to combine academic excellence with institutional and scientific prestige in order to foster innovation in blockchain. Pioneer in its field and supported by Capgemini, Nomadic Labs and Caisse des Dépôts, is proud to have supported the production of this study conducted by KPMG France for the ADAN Association on the French and Crypto.

The word from ADAN : Since January 2020, around its eleven founding members, ADAN has been entrusted with the mission – as delicate as it is fundamental – of helping the crypto industry in France to develop, to shine, to impose itself in the new global race of the Internet of value.

Two years later, while the Association represents and gathers around a common mission more than a hundred member companies, with extremely diversified activities, the face of this industry has changed: more extensive, more structured, more supervised. At the same time, and quite logically, Adan’s actions have multiplied and intensified to support all of these players and maintain the dynamics of the sector as a whole.

From new entrants to proud unicorns, whether they are establishing themselves in existing economic sectors or shaping new markets, each one is playing a major role and leading France towards new digital horizons where it is building new foundations for its competitiveness and sovereignty.

The perpetual and very rapid mutation – which beats to the rhythm of innovation – of the crypto industry in France and around the world is sometimes difficult to follow. Both for those who are immersed in these subjects and for those who are more distant from this sector, it can be difficult to delineate its contours and grasp its scope, including on a French scale. While Adan has already sketched the picture of French industry by producing a 2020 inventory of the industry, several brushstrokes were needed to paint a true picture of a sector that is now far from marginal.

Thus, Adan commissioned KPMG to conduct a comprehensive study of the sector, in two complementary parts.

The first part concerns crypto companies in France, and allows us to understand the major perspectives that await this sector and the economic opportunities it offers. The feedback from entrepreneurs – constituting a representative panel of the industry – testifies to the environment in which they evolve, their confidence in the future of the sector, and the road ahead.

The second part establishes the level of democratization of cryptos in France based on statistical analysis conducted by the IPSOS polling institute.

While the following conclusion does not exempt a detailed reading of this study report, it must nevertheless be stated with pride: the French crypto industry is as dynamic as it is promising.

As of January 2022, the sector has hundreds of projects and future nuggets, which can be divided into two major pools of companies: the most established and largest players because the and a majority of smaller and younger structures.