The French Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and the Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution (ACPR) granted Binance a Digital Asset Service Provider (DASP) license, making France the first European country and the first member of the G7 group to fully embrace Binance as a trading platform.
The French DASP marks a possible turning point in the exchange’s struggle to operate in a “healthy way,” Changpeng Zhao told Bloomberg, adding that the approval “opens doors” for Binance to get more licenses in Europe and beyond. In a statement, CZ called it a “milestone achievement.”
CZ in Paris
Now Binance holds a full approval in France, they’re all but certain to make Paris their new global headquarters, something CZ has been hinting at since the fall of 2021.
It’s been a bumpy road. In November, Binance launched a program codenamed Objective Moon to boost the company’s overall presence in the country, including plans for an R&D hub and €100m in investments.
Less than a month later, the French financial industry regulator criticized the exchange over anti-money laundering compliance, and Objective Moon was largely shelved.
In April, Binance resumed their efforts, announcing a partnership with a Paris startup campus Station F during a keynote speech at the Paris Blockchain Week Summit. CZ, who apparently started learning French, vowed to boost the company’s physical presence in Paris, launch a support program for promising startups, and donate €2 million to renovate the salon de l'œil de bœuf at the Château de Versailles.
In a statement announcing the French DASP, Binance confirmed they were going to scale operations in the country, but it’s not the end of the crypto giant’s licensing spree. Earlier this year, CZ confirmed that Binance was working to get registered or licensed in over 40 jurisdictions, with hundreds of people reportedly hired in the company’s compliance teams.
