Societe Generale, a prominent French bank, has obtained a license from France’s financial market regulator, AMF, to offer cryptocurrency services. This license makes Societe Generale the first company in France to be authorized to provide such services.
The bank’s crypto unit, called Forge, is now permitted to offer a range of crypto-related services, including custody of cryptocurrencies, crypto trading, and crypto sales. This license signifies a significant step for the bank to venture into the cryptocurrency market and cater to the growing interest in digital assets among its customers.
It’s worth noting that several other crypto firms, including Binance, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, have also registered with the AMF. However, there is a distinction between registered firms and licensed ones.
Licensed companies, like Societe Generale’s Forge, must adhere to more stringent regulations and comply with additional requirements concerning areas like corporate governance, information technology (IT), and compliance.
France is one of the European nations that has embraced the Web3 market with 3.8 million of its 64 million population owning crypto. It also sits in the top 20 nations with the most ownership of crypto around the world and second to Turkey in Europe.
In June 2023, CACEIS, another French bank specializing in asset servicing and a subsidiary of Crédit Agricole and Santander, was granted approval by the French financial market regulator (AMF) to offer Bitcoin custody services and handle digital assets.
The approval for Bitcoin custody services adds CACEIS to a list of other approved financial institutions in France, such as Coinhouse, and Stackinsat, among others. This comes at a time when traditional financial firms, like BlackRock, Fidelity, and others, have shown increasing interest in the crypto market, particularly Bitcoin.
Additionally, even global institutions like the IMF and the Federal Reserve have recognized the value of cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, suggesting the importance of studying them rather than banning their use.
