Right-wing party wants to ban bitcoin in France ‘immediately’

No country, except for Russia, has explicitly said that it doesn’t want bitcoin. Until France, that is.

A major right-wing political party has recently taken an aggressive stance towards virtually currency, announcing that it wants to ban all forms of cryptocurrency—including bitcoin—in the European country, should it get into power.

In a note published in late May, the Front National political party declared that virtual currencies should be considered a “serious threat” to the country’s “real economy.” Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who is expected to run in the 2017 French presidential election, accused world leaders and Wall Street power brokers of positioning bitcoin to create a world devoid of cash.

She wrote: “The powerful business lobby Wall Street banks (JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs)… sold two ideas to states and institutions like the EU: virtual currencies or cryptocurrencies (the best known is the bitcoin and a cashless society.”