France closed its PSAN era on 30 June 2026 and emerged as the EU's second-largest MiCA jurisdiction, with 31 authorised crypto-asset service providers. The French route runs through the AMF, with the ACPR vetting the anti-money-laundering file — and it is one of the few in Europe with published flat fees and a formal fast track for incumbents. Here is how it works.
Published: July 2026 · Data as of 16 July 2026 · Reading time: ~9 minutes
Key Takeaways
- The AMF grants CASP authorisations in France; the ACPR assesses the AML/CFT part of every application and separately supervises stablecoin (ART/EMT) issuers.
- France used the full 18-month MiCA transition: PSAN-registered firms could operate until 1 July 2026 — and 12 of France's 31 authorisations landed in June 2026, right at the wire.
- Incumbent PSANs got a formal fast track (AMF Instruction DOC-2025-05): unchanged parts of their old file could be resubmitted as-is, with only changed elements re-reviewed.
- The AMF publishes flat fees: €10,000 at authorisation, €10,000 per year thereafter, plus 0.0094‰ of assets under custody (minimum €1,500) for custodians.
- Providing crypto-asset services in France without authorisation is now a criminal offence: up to 2 years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine.
- Minimum capital follows MiCA Annex IV: €50,000 / €125,000 / €150,000 by service class, or one quarter of fixed overheads if higher.
From PACTE Pioneer to MiCA Runner-Up
France regulated crypto-asset services before almost anyone else. The 2019 PACTE law created the PSAN regime: mandatory registration with the AMF for custody, buy/sell and exchange services, plus an optional full licence (agrément) that — tellingly — not a single firm had obtained by May 2023. A 2023 amendment tightened the entry bar with an "enhanced registration" for new applicants from mid-2023.
MiCA was slotted into French law by two ordinances of 15 October 2024 — one adapting the Monetary and Financial Code to MiCA and allocating powers between the AMF and ACPR, the other implementing the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation (the crypto "travel rule"). Where Germany cut the MiCA transition short, France took the opposite bet: the full 18 months, letting registered PSANs serve French clients until 1 July 2026 (without an EU passport, and with their service scope frozen at what they had registered).
The result is unmistakable in the register:
France's first CASP authorisation came only in May 2025 (Deblock, authorisation A2025-001 of 23 May 2025). As late as October 2025, France had just 7 authorised providers. Then the deadline did its work: 12 authorisations in June 2026 alone, closing the transition with 31 — enough for second place in the EU behind Germany.
Who Does What: AMF and ACPR
The AMF (Autorité des marchés financiers) is the competent authority: it receives the application, runs the assessment and grants the authorisation. On receipt, it forwards the AML/CFT part of the file to the ACPR (Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution), which evaluates the applicant's anti-money-laundering framework. The ACPR is separately the competent authority for issuers of asset-referenced and e-money tokens, and receives notifications from already-regulated institutions (banks, e-money and payment institutions) entering crypto services via MiCA's Article 60 route — for which the two authorities publish a common notification form.
Applications are filed with the AMF by email (psan@amf-france.org, with a secure channel for large files), using the EU-standard application content. The AMF publishes its CASP forms in English: an application form, a fit-and-proper form for management, and a DORA cybersecurity self-assessment questionnaire.
The Fast Track: Instruction DOC-2025-05
For firms already holding an enhanced PSAN registration or the optional PACTE licence, the AMF formalised a simplified procedure in June 2025 (Instruction DOC-2025-05), for applications filed before 1 July 2026. The mechanics are pragmatic: documents unchanged since the PSAN file are resubmitted marked "same version as communicated on [date]"; amended documents go in as tracked-changes versions; elements the AMF already analysed get only limited re-review. Alongside it, the AMF updated its whole crypto doctrine — the DASP rules (DOC-2019-23), cybersecurity requirements (DOC-2019-24) and the PSAN Q&A (DOC-2020-07).
The Requirements
The substantive file follows MiCA Article 62 and the ESMA standards:
| Requirement | What the AMF expects |
|---|---|
| Programme of operations | Business plan and services, per the EU application form |
| Capital (MiCA Art. 67 / Annex IV) | €50,000 (Class 1), €125,000 (Class 2), €150,000 (Class 3) — or ¼ of prior-year fixed overheads if higher |
| Governance & control | Organisational structure, internal control, business-continuity plans |
| Fit & proper | Biographies plus the AMF's dedicated fit-and-proper form for each manager |
| AML/CFT | Procedures reviewed by the ACPR; obliged-entity status under the Monetary and Financial Code |
| ICT / DORA | AMF cybersecurity self-assessment questionnaire (DORA) |
| Conflicts & clients | Conflict-of-interest policy, client-asset segregation |
The assessment runs on the MiCA Article 63 clock — 5 working days to acknowledge, 25 working days for completeness, 40 working days of substantive review, 5 days to notify: about 75 working days end-to-end, excluding suspensions for questions (capped at 20 working days each). The AMF advised transition-period applicants to budget roughly 4 months from a complete file.
What French applicants asked for is distinctive — custody and transfer services top the list, far more than in Germany's broker-heavy market:
Fees: Rare Transparency
France is one of the few jurisdictions with flat, published CASP contributions (Monetary and Financial Code, Art. L. 621-5-3):
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Contribution at authorisation | €10,000 |
| Annual fixed contribution | €10,000 |
| Custody services add-on | 0.0094‰ of assets under custody, minimum €1,500 |
Fit-and-proper reviews carry no separate published per-person fee, unlike in the Netherlands.
The Stick: Criminal Sanctions and Blacklisting
Since 1 July 2026, offering crypto-asset services in France without a MiCA authorisation (or an EU passport) is punishable by two years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine under the Monetary and Financial Code. The AMF can add unauthorised sites to its blacklist and seek court-ordered website blocking. Firms that chose not to seek authorisation had to finalise orderly wind-down plans by 30 March 2026, and the AMF now scrutinises those cessations as part of its new supervisory role.
AML, TRACFIN and AMLA
French CASPs are obliged entities under the French AML framework (LCB-FT), supervised by the ACPR, with suspicious-transaction reporting to TRACFIN, the FIU attached to the Ministry of the Economy. The Transfer of Funds Regulation applies to every crypto transfer, and the broader EU AML package (AMLR, applicable 10 July 2027) will progressively replace national rules. The new EU AML Authority (AMLA), seated in Frankfurt, starts direct supervision of selected obliged entities in 2028 — with crypto firms among its priorities.
This article is part of our country-by-country series on MiCA licensing. See also: Germany (BaFin), the Netherlands (AFM) and the full EU licence map 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who grants MiCA CASP licences in France? The AMF. The ACPR reviews the AML/CFT part of the file and separately supervises ART/EMT (stablecoin) issuers.
What happened to PSAN registration? No new PSAN registrations were possible after 30 December 2024, and existing ones lapsed with the transition on 1 July 2026. PSAN status alone no longer permits crypto-asset services in France.
How much does the French CASP licence cost? €10,000 at authorisation and €10,000 annually, plus 0.0094‰ of custodied assets (minimum €1,500) for custody providers — set out in the AMF's official contributions guide.
How long does the AMF take? The MiCA timeline totals roughly 75 working days for a complete file; the AMF advised applicants to allow about 4 months in practice.
Can a French bank or investment firm skip the licence? Credit institutions, investment firms, e-money institutions and certain others may use MiCA's Article 60 notification route instead of a full authorisation, via the common AMF–ACPR notification form, at least 40 working days before starting.
Sources
- AMF — The European regulation MiCA (English)
- AMF — MiCA: the AMF is now accepting applications for CASP authorisation (English)
- AMF — reminder to DASPs on the transitional period (English)
- AMF — press release of 6 July 2026: end of the PACTE/MiCA transition (English)
- AMF — Instruction DOC-2025-05: simplified CASP authorisation for PSANs (French, PDF)
- AMF — CASP licensing application forms (English)
- AMF — common AMF/ACPR notification form (Article 60 MiCA, English)
- AMF — guide to fees and contributions (French, PDF)
- AMF — white lists (register of authorised CASPs/DASPs)
- ACPR — crypto-asset issuers and service providers: procedures (French)
- ACPR–AMF Fintech Forum — MiCA workshop, October 2025 (French, PDF)
- Ministry of the Economy — publication of the two crypto-asset ordinances (French)
- ESMA — list of MiCA grandfathering periods under Art. 143(3) (PDF)
- ESMA — Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), interim register
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) — EUR-Lex
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Analysis based on official AMF, ACPR, French government and ESMA publications and ESMA's interim MiCA register (CASP file), 16 July 2026 snapshot. Counts are unique legal entities per home Member State; the AMF's 6 July 2026 press release independently confirms 31 authorised market participants in France.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for general information and analytical purposes only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, investment, tax or any other form of professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. While we strive for accuracy, the underlying registers and regulatory frameworks are updated frequently and details may have changed since the stated data date. Always verify current information directly with official sources (ESMA, the European Commission, and national competent authorities such as the AMF and ACPR) before making any decision. MICA Watch accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of this content.