France Expands Crypto Exchange Audits to Secure EU-Wide Licenses

In this news report for Cryptopolitan, author Nellius Irene covers France’s expanded anti-money laundering inspections of crypto service providers as the country prepares for new EU-wide licensing rules under the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation. France’s Prudential Supervision and Resolution Authority (ACPR) has been conducting checks on numerous exchanges since late last year to determine which providers will be cleared for licenses valid across the entire EU bloc. According to unnamed sources familiar with the sensitive reviews, major platforms including Binance and Coinhouse are among the crypto asset service providers (PSANs) currently being examined by the ACPR, with Binance having already been instructed last year to reinforce its risk procedures. Companies that fail to meet French requirements on time could face enforcement measures or be denied future MiCA approval.

Irene explains that these French reviews are occurring amid growing friction over how EU nations should coordinate crypto enforcement, ten months into the new regulatory regime. France, Austria, and Italy urged the EU’s markets watchdog last month to assume direct control over major crypto companies and tighten existing rules, citing inconsistencies in national implementation. The ACPR conducts these inspections to ensure crypto firms comply with PSAN status conditions, particularly their anti-money laundering and terrorist financing prevention systems. After inspections, companies are typically given several months to correct shortcomings, with the regulator sharing findings with the French Financial Markets Authority (AMF). Noncompliance could result in penalties or jeopardize a firm’s eligibility for a MiCA license, which enables EU-wide operations.

The article notes that French crypto service providers face a June 2026 deadline to obtain the new license, though the AMF has issued it to only a few players to date, including Deblock, GOin, Bitstack, and CACEIS (owned by Crédit Agricole). Binance, despite being among the first international exchanges approved as a digital asset service provider in France in 2022, has continued to receive warnings to enhance its transparency and compliance setup. French authorities launched an investigation into Binance over suspected money laundering and tax violations related to its activities from 2019 to 2024, with the ACPR instructing the exchange last year to enhance its compliance and risk management. Binance’s Paris-based European arm has reiterated its full cooperation with regulators and commitment to aligning with the EU’s evolving regulatory landscape.

Irene reports that the European Union plans to implement its digital asset rules by late 2025, with the AMF’s revised rules requiring all registered crypto-asset service providers to meet stricter operational, security, and reporting requirements by December 30, 2025. Firms without full MiCA authorization by July 1, 2026, may no longer be permitted to operate within the European Union. AMF President Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani stated that crypto companies are flocking to jurisdictions with lower licensing requirements under the new regulatory regime, with MiCA allowing firms to apply for licenses from individual EU countries and use them as a “passport” to operate across all 27 member nations. However, this measure has already exposed discrepancies in how national regulators implement the rules, raising concerns about whether some licenses are being issued too quickly and whether cross-border companies face adequate scrutiny, with France stating as recently as September that it might seek to prevent some crypto firms licensed in other EU countries from operating domestically…

CONTINUE READING…