According to the latest reports, France is widening its anti-money laundering reviews on crypto exchanges, including Binance. This is part of the regulators' efforts to determine which crypto firms will be granted EU-wide permits.
Despite the ongoing online FUD against Binance, these new reviews could take the exchange closer to getting fully MiCA-regulated in the EU.
Binance, Coinbase, and Others Reviewed by French Authorities
Bloomberg released details about the latest move made by the French authorities, saying that the regulators are seeking to determine which of more than 100 entities registered as offering crypto services in the country will be granted EU-wide permits in the upcoming months.
ACPR, which is the French prudential supervision and resolution authority, is carrying out controls on exchanges, a move which is part of an effort that debuted in 2024, according to the publication, citing sources familiar with this matter.
The reports revealed that Binance and Coinbase are among the PSANs that are reviewed by ACPR officials. PSAN stands for Prestataire de Services en Actifs Numériques (“Digital Asset Service Provider”) in France.
The regulator reportedly told Binance in 2024 to strengthen its risk controls, as part of the examinations. The exchange highlighted that periodic onsite inspections are a "standard part of the supervision of regulated entities."
Meanwhile, the ACPR and Coinhouse, a French crypto platform, did not offer any comments on the matter, Bloomberg noted.
A Coordinated Crypto Enforcement Across the EU
France's move comes after financial regulators in the country, in Austria, and Italy, as well, have urged the EU's top markets watchdog to begin supervising important crypto companies and tighten the bloc's rules, after finding disparities in how crypto regulations are being implemented.
The EU began rolling out its MiCA framework for crypto in late 2024.
These reviews involve the following actions:
- Verifying the companies' compliance with the conditions of their registration as an entity that provides crypto services
- Testing the implementation of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls
In 2024, Binance was asked to:
- Strengthen compliance and risk controls
- Hire more people in compliance/risk sectors
- Making IT systems more secure
It's also worth noting that the ACPR usually offers companies a few months to comply with these demands.
How the Reviews Work
The data collected by the ACPR is shared with the French markets regulator - the French Financial Markets Authority.
Failure to respond to the ACPR findings could:
- Lead to sanctions for the crypto entity
- Compromise the crypto entity's ability to get the MiCA license from France, which allows the firm to offer crypto services in the EU
In France, crypto entities have until the end of June 2026 to obtain the MiCA agreement, and so far, only a few platforms have obtained it, including Deblock fintech firm, GOin crypto company, Bitstack BTC savings app, and French banking group Credit Agricole.
Binance Could Become 100% MiCA Regulated in the EU
If regulators' reviews of Binance find no problems, and the exchange has 100% complied with all the demands, the crypto exchange could finally become fully MiCA-regulated across the EU. Coinbase has already obtained its MiCA license this year.
Under the new CEO, Richard Teng, Binance has been working hard to strengthen compliance rules, boost security, and work with global authorities over the past years.
The exchange has also announced plans to delist non-MiCA compliance stablecoins such as USDT, DAI, and more for the EEA users as of March 31, 2025, in order to comply with the MiCA rules.
Binance has been in the process of adjusting its services for EU users to align with the new crypto framework in the area, and the French review, if successful, could push the exchange a step further toward becoming fully MiCA-regulated.
