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Binance gets a regulatory win in France

The crypto exchange giant successfully registered as a digital asset provider in France.

Binance phone app

Binance gets regulatory win in France.

Photo: Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Binance got the go-ahead from France to operate in the country Wednesday, marking the crypto exchange giant’s first major European win after a series of regulatory setbacks.

The country’s Financial Markets Authority granted the crypto exchange a Digital Asset Service Provider registration, a move that is mandatory for all exchanges seeking to operate in France.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao recently confirmed an investment of 100 million euros, or $105 million, into France’s blockchain ecosystem while speaking at Paris Blockchain Week.

Zhao has also touted France as a “progressive” crypto regulator. “They’re very strict, France is a very strict regulator. But they have the advanced understandings to go with that,” he said in an interview with CNBC.

This is Binance’s first regulatory win in the European region after U.K. regulators banned Binance Markets Limited from operating there without prior written consent from the Financial Conduct Authority last June, stating that no other Binance entities were authorized either. Italy and Germany have expressed similar sentiments.

Binance has been on a rapid global expansion, particularly in the Middle East, securing regulatory approvals from Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the past few months. But it continues to struggle in other jurisdictions like Singapore, which has recently imposed stricter crypto regulations.

Lindsey Choo
Lindsey Choo is a former Protocol reporter covering fintech. She is a graduate of UC San Diego, where she double majored in communications and political science. She has previously covered healthcare issues for the Center for Healthy Aging and was a senior staff writer for The UCSD Guardian. She can be reached at lchoo@protocol.com.
binancecryptocurrencycrypto regulation
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