French Bank BPCE Secures Crypto Approval For Hexarq Subsidiary

France’s financial markets regulator has granted regulatory approval to BPCE’s cryptocurrency subsidiary, Hexarq, enabling it to operate as a crypto asset service provider (CASP).

According to an official notice from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF),Hexarq is now authorized to offer services such as crypto custody, buying, selling, and trading against the euro.

Launched in 2021, Hexarq focuses on cryptocurrencies and tokenized real-world assets. Reports suggest that Hexarq plans to roll out cryptocurrency investment services within BPCE’s Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Épargne networks in 2025. BPCE, one of Europe’s largest banking groups, serves 35 million customers with assets under management reaching €1.3 trillion by September 2024.

The bank’s foray into stablecoins is also part of a broader trend of traditional financial institutions cautiously embracing cryptocurrency. SG Forge, the crypto arm of French banking giant Societe Generale, was the first company to secure a license to offer buying, selling, trading, and custody of digital assets in France.

Hexarq becomes the fourth crypto business to secure CASP approval from the AMF, joining Société Générale’s crypto arm, along with Deblock SAS and GOin SAS. The move comes amid France’s preparation for full enforcement of the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulations on Dec. 30, 2024.

Elsewhere, France’s National Gaming Authority, the Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), is considering banning prediction platform Polymarket due to potential violations of French gambling laws.

Earlier this year, France’s securities regulator reiterated a warning to investors that Bybit is not registered as a digital asset provider in the country. Despite its woes in France, the exchange launched Bybit.nl in the Netherlands on March 28.

The AMF targeted Binance in 2023, during founder Changpeng Zhao’s legal battles in the United States. French prosecutors opened a probe into operating its crypto business before it received regulatory approval in 2022, as well as implementing poor money laundering checks.