France approves Binance to operate digital asset trading services

French financial regulators afforded Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, a digital asset service provider license on Wednesday. 

Binance can now operate its digital asset trading platform in France, meaning it can facilitate digital asset custody, let users buy and sell crypto and help to exchange digital assets for each other, according to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), a French financial market regulator. 

The move adds another step in Binance’s expansion across Europe — and to particularly entrench itself in France, which Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao called, “uniquely positioned to be the leader of this industry in Europe” at the 2022 Paris Blockchain Week Summit. Binance has 50 employees already working in France, Zhao added. 

Last month, Binance invested 100 million euros ($108 million) into Station F, a startup incubator headquartered in Paris, in addition to poaching former AMF deputy general counsel Stéphanie Cabossioras as a Binance employee.