Crypto
exchange
Coinbase
(COIN)
said
it
received
registration
as
a
Virtual
Asset
Services
Provider
in
France,
allowing
it
to
offer
a
“full
suite
of
retail,
institutional,
and
ecosystem
products
and
services”
in
the
country.
The
registration
with
the
Financial
Markets
Authority
(AMF)
was
announced
the
same
day
as
stablecoin
issuer
Circle
said
it
was
granted
conditional
registration
by
the
regulator
as
France
looks
to
attract
crypto
businesses.
Coinbase
is
the
third-largest
crypto
exchange
by
trading
volume,
according
to
CoinGecko,
surpassed
only
by
Binance,
which
is
also
registered
in
the
country,
and
Bybit.
Registration
allows
it
to
offer
custody
of
digital
assets,
buying
and
selling
of
digital
assets
for
fiat
currency
and
trading
of
digital
assets,
Coinbase
said.
France
has
been
eager
to
attract
crypto
companies
looking
for
environments
with
greater
regulatory
clarity
than
currently
exists
in
the
U.S.
The
European
Union
recently
put
into
law
the
wide-ranging
Markets
in
Crypto
Assets
(MiCA)
legislation,
which
will
start
taking
force
across
the
27-nation
bloc
next
year.
In
the
U.S.,
Coinbase
has
been
requesting
bespoke
rules
for
the
crypto
sector
from
the
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission,
something
the
SEC
recently
called
“unwarranted.”
In
the
meantime,
the
exchange
has
said
it
wants
to
become
regulated
in
countries
with
clear
policies
set
out
for
the
industry.
Coinbase
already
has
licenses
elsewhere
in
the
EU,
including
an
e-money
in
license
in
Ireland
and
registration
in
Spain.
In
October,
it
said
it
planned
to
make
Ireland
its
EU
hub.
This
year
it
also
received
a
license
to
operate
in
Bermuda
and
another
in
Singapore.
Shares
of
the
Nasdaq-traded
company,
already
up
30%
this
month,
added
another
1.4%
to
$164.5.