The French National Assembly has voted to legislate stricter licensing rules for new cryptocurrency firms to harmonize local laws with proposed European Union (EU) standards. The vote was passed with 109 votes (60.5%) in favour to 71 (39.5%) against. With the French Senate having already passed the bill, it will now be passed to president Emmanuel Macron who has 15 days to either approve it or send it back to the legislature. If passed, the new law would oblige France-based cryptocurrency service providers to comply with stricter anti-money laundering rules, show that customer funds are segregated, adhere to new guidelines on reporting to regulators and provide more detailed risk and conflict of interest disclosures as a means to strengthen consumer protection. (Cointelegraph)