The candidate of La République en Marche clarified in an interview that he had plans for the NFTs. This is the first time that Emmanuel Macron has addressed this subject, which is as popular as it is controversial.
“ I would like our main cultural establishments to develop an NFT policy. The declaration did not take place during the debate between the two rounds, nor during his campaign rally on Minecraft : Emmanuel Macron spoke, for the first time, about NFTs, during an interview granted to The Big Whale on April 21, 2022, a newsletter specializing in crypto-currencies. And the least we can say is that no one expected it.
NFTs, non-fungible tokens, were not a very popular topic during the 2022 presidential campaign. These digital certificates of authenticity recorded on the blockchain are still largely unknown to the general public, but they occupy an increasingly increasingly important in the tech and digital sectors. Some candidates had announced some measures about them in their program. Anne Hidalgo, for example, wanted to submit them to a special legal classification, and Éric Zemmour had formulated a proposal for their taxation. If he had positioned himself in favor of a ” european metaverse “, until President, Emmanuel Macron had never mentioned NFTs in his program – it is now done.
Emmanuel Macron spoke about NFTs for the first time in his campaign
Interviewed by The Big Whale on the topics of crypto-currencies, metaverse and Web3, Emmanuel Macron answered at length. The outgoing president notably positioned himself in favor of the development of NFTs within the more global framework of a French metaverse.
” The metaverse has immense potential in culture and entertainment through its applications in music, concerts, art exhibitions “, declared Emmanuel Macron. ” I would like our main cultural establishments to develop a policy in terms of NFT, for example through the enhancement, dissemination and protection of twins or variations of their physical collections. Finally, France through its language, its heritage, its towns and villages, its monuments, must also exist in the metaverse. I hope that we can think about what a dematerialized museum of French history would be like in this universe. »
These two statements are still rather unclear: it is not really clear what Emmanuel Macron wants museums to do with NFTs, or how they could do it. As for the idea of a museum of France in the metaverse, it also seems quite vague: we do not know which metaverse in particular the candidate is referring to, how this museum would be built, or if it would be from a Minecraft server. But this is the first time that the outgoing president has spoken out in favor of NFTs, and that he has mentioned the idea of a French metaverse, or at least of France in a metaverse. This is therefore an important recognition for the NFT sector.
Emmanuel Macron especially wishes to show that he understands the challenges of these areas, presented by many as the future, whether in the art world, with NFTs, or the future of entertainment, with the metaverse. While he positioned himself in 2017 as the tech candidate and that of the ” start-up nation », for this 2022 campaign, its digital program is extremely short. Above all, the candidate formulated very few new or futuristic proposals. With NFTs and the metaverse, he may be trying to catch up.