🇫🇷 Crypto licence in France

The regime

France's PSAN registration regime (2019) seeded one of Europe's biggest crypto-service populations — well over a hundred registered providers including Binance France and Coinhouse. Under MiCA, the AMF grants CASP authorisation, with PSAN firms grandfathered into mid-2026 to complete the transition.

The AMF has been among the most active MiCA authorisers, and Paris has kept its position as a major EU crypto hub, helped by the early legal certainty the PSAN regime created.

Requirements

• CASP authorisation from the AMF under MiCA (Regulation (EU) 2023/1114) — one licence covering exchange, custody, brokerage, transfer and advisory services.
• Minimum own funds: €50,000 (Class 1 — reception/transmission of orders, advice, transfers), €125,000 (Class 2 — adds custody and exchange against funds) or €150,000 (Class 3 — operating a trading platform).
• Substance in France: a registered office, effective management in the EU and at least one EU-resident director.
• Safeguarding: segregation of client crypto-assets and client funds from the firm's own book, with a custody policy.
• AML/CTF: EU framework compliance including Travel Rule originator/beneficiary data under the Transfer of Funds Regulation.
• Operational resilience: governance, conflicts, complaints, outsourcing and ICT-risk (DORA) arrangements sized to the service classes sought.

Licensed firms

Notable names in the French regime:

• Deblock — took the first AMF CASP authorisation in early 2025
• Binance France, Coinhouse — large PSAN registrants transitioning onto MiCA through mid-2026

Snapshot, not the register: verify current status against AMF register before relying on it.

Is a PSAN registration still valid in France?

Only through the French grandfathering window, which runs to mid-2026. After that, full MiCA CASP authorisation (from the AMF or passported from another member state) is required.

How do I check a firm's French status?

Check the AMF's public register or ESMA's interim MiCA register. A CASP authorised anywhere in the EU may passport into France, so a firm serving France legally may hold its licence from another member state.