Stablecoin issuer Circle obtained conditional registration as a digital asset service provider (DASP) from France's Financial Markets Authority (AMF) as the European Union's second-largest economy seeks to attract crypto companies looking for environments with greater regulatory clarity than they can find in the U.S.
To lift the conditions associated with the registration and start operating in France, the company needs an electronic money institution license, which it has already applied for, the company said Thursday. Circle's dollar-pegged USDC is the second-largest stablecoin by market cap, trailing only Tether's USDT. It also issues a euro-pegged coin, EURC.
France has been encouraging crypto companies to set up shop within its borders and take advantage of its rules as the U.S. faces regulatory uncertainty. Earlier this year the European Union passed the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation, which will start taking force in the bloc's 27 member countries next year.
"The selection of France as our European regulatory base builds on the country's clear rules for responsible innovation in FinTech and digital assets, while leveraging France's dynamic entrepreneurial, technological, banking and financial services ecosystem," Dante Disparte, Circle's chief strategy officer and head of global policy said in the statement.
The company also named Coralie Billmann to spearhead its licensed operations in the country. She previously led high-growth tech sales expansion at investment bank JPMorgan and was treasurer for Europe Middle East and Africa at payments platform PayPal.
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