The Léonard de Vinci Centre has opened its new Institute of Crypto-Assets, which will support research related to blockchain technology and digital assets. The institute opened on Nov. 8 with a scientific board of eleven experts.
The De Vinci Centre, located in the business district just outside of Paris, announced on its website that the inauguration of the new institute included two addresses. Historian Jacques Favier discussed the history of currencies up until bitcoin, and cryptographer David Pointcheval spoke about security and anonymity. Cyril Grunspan, the institute’s director, conducted the inauguration ceremony alongside Sébastien Tran, managing director of Leonardo da Vinci Cluster.
As reported by CoinTelegraph, the opening of the new institute comes at a time when France is striving for leadership in the digital asset ecosystem. Despite market downturns during H1 2023, over a quarter of all new fintech investment deals went to French crypto companies.
According to CoinDesk, French government agencies have been supporting the Web3 industry. France’s Ministry of Culture has allocated $150 million to promoting “French cultural sovereignty” in digital environments.
“France has some very pro-business, pro-crypto regulations and also just (the) government’s attitude towards this industry … has been phenomenal”, said Changpeng Zhao (CZ), CEO of Binance—the world’s largest crypto exchange—during a conference held at Paris stock exchange’s historic building in Apr. 2022, as reported by Reuters.
Nasdaq reports that several major Web3 companies—including Binance—have chosen Paris as their European base. Other firms that have set up headquarters in Paris include Crypto.com and Circle—a peer-to-peer payments company.
