The nation’s financial authority has authorized one of France’s oldest banking organizations to provide cryptocurrency services. L’Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) has registered 3SG Forge, the digital asset division of 150-year-old Société Générale, now France’s third-largest bank.

As a result of the registration, SG Forge is now able to provide three services relating to digital assets, such as custody services. Customers can now exchange cryptocurrencies for other digital assets and purchase and sell them for actual money. However, SG Forge has not yet applied to become a trading platform.

Société Générale’s internal startup SG Forge, which debuted in 2018 as one of 60 startups, has grown to become the company’s top division for digital assets. When experimenting with developing a central bank digital currency for France, the business worked separately with ConsenSys and Tezos.

France’s Role As A European Crypto Hub.

The acceptance of one of France’s oldest financial institutions is the most recent among businesses that have recently registered as suppliers of digital asset services (DASP). 

Earlier this year, Binance became the first significant cryptocurrency exchange permitted by French financial regulators to function as a DASP. Additionally, it was the first acceptance in Europe of the biggest bitcoin exchange in the world.

Following similar approvals from regulators in Italy and the United Kingdom, Singapore-based cryptocurrency platform Crypto.com was able to register as a DASP in France last month. 

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The business is so confident in France’s positioning, in fact, that it chose to locate its regional headquarters there. Approximately €150 million will be invested, according to Crypto.com, which also announced that it would enlist the help of local expertise to support its business growth and compliance initiatives.

To lead its development into European markets, competing for bitcoin exchange Coinbase has hired Daniel Seifert, a senior executive from German fintech Solarisbank AG. The San Francisco-based business has registered in Italy and the Netherlands, but its following targets are Spain and France.