Is crypto legal in France? Regulation & rules (2026)

France enacted Decree 2025-169 on crypto-asset markets, completing the domestic legal adaptation (alongside Ordinance 2024-936) that aligns the French regime and AMF/ACPR powers with the EU MiCA Regulation.

The EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation took full effect for crypto-asset service providers (CASPs); new entrants must now obtain a MiCA CASP authorisation to operate, with a European passport across the EU.

The AMF began accepting applications for CASP authorisation under MiCA, including a simplified fast-track procedure for existing DASPs, ahead of the regulation's full application; stablecoin (Titles III/IV) rules applied from 30 June 2024.

Binance France SAS secured AMF registration as a digital asset service provider (with ACPR agreement), a high-profile milestone; French users later faced restrictions on derivatives and leveraged products not covered by the PSAN regime.

Coinhouse (and Coinhouse Custody Services) received the AMF's first mandatory DASP registration (E2020-001) for buy/sell against fiat and custody, operationalising the PACTE regime created in 2019.

In Paymium v. BitSpread, France's first instance commercial court of Nanterre gave the first French legal characterization of bitcoin—treating it as fungible and consumable like currency—shaping how crypto loans and ownership are treated.

The AMF issued its first optional approval (visa) for an initial coin offering to the fintech French-ICO, the first use of the PACTE Law's voluntary token-offering regime designed to give investor guarantees.

Law 2019-486 (PACTE) established France's pioneering crypto regime: mandatory AMF registration for exchange and custody providers, optional licensing for other DASPs, and an optional ICO visa—the foundation of the current framework.