France Financial Markets Authority sets out its new supervisory role as MiCA becomes mandatory for all EU crypto asset service providers

The France Financial Markets Authority said the transition from France's Pacte law regime to the EU MiCA framework has ended, and that authorization under MiCA is now mandatory for any firm offering crypto-asset services in the European Union. Since July 2, the European regime has applied to all market participants without distinction, shifting the authority's role from supporting registered or licensed French digital asset service providers through transition to supervising compliance with MiCA's professional and conduct obligations. France has authorized 31 firms so far, with a few additional authorizations being finalized, while 283 firms have been authorized across the European Union. The authority said France is the second-largest location in the bloc for authorized crypto-asset service providers. Compared with the earlier French regime, which at minimum required anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, MiCA adds conduct, market abuse prevention and cybersecurity obligations, as well as requirements on safeguarding clients' crypto-assets and funds and handling complaints. The authority said it will continue reviewing new authorization applications with the same level of scrutiny and will now scale up supervision of authorized firms. In line with the European Securities and Markets Authority's June 23, 2026 communication, it will also closely monitor the orderly wind-down plans of firms that failed to obtain MiCA authorization, with a focus on protecting clients' interests. It warned authorized firms taking on transferred clients to carry out required regulatory checks, including anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls, and urged clients to deal only with providers authorized to operate in the European Union, noting that MiCA has no third-country equivalence regime.