MiCA in France: The AMF as Competent Authority

Every EU Member State designates a competent authority to apply MiCA. In France it is the AMF. For any crypto firm operating in or into France, the AMF is the entity that authorizes, supervises, publishes the doctrine you must follow, and enforces against you if you get it wrong. This article sets out what the AMF actually does under MiCA, how it relates to the old PSAN regime, and where the ACPR fits.

TL;DR

• The AMF is France's MiCA competent authority for crypto-asset service providers.
• It handles CASP authorization, supervision, doctrine, the PSAN transition, and enforcement.
• The ACPR is involved on prudential aspects; the AMF is the lead crypto-asset authority.
• PSAN ≠ CASP: the AMF runs the new MiCA authorization; a PSAN registration does not auto-convert.
• AMF CASP authorization is passportable across the EU/EEA.
• AMF has accepted CASP applications since 1 July 2024; the French transition ends 1 July 2026.

What the AMF does under MiCA

The AMF's MiCA role spans the full lifecycle of a crypto-asset service provider:

This is the same shape as any MiCA competent authority, applied through French process and French published doctrine. A firm dealing with MiCA in France is, in practice, dealing with the AMF.

The AMF and the ACPR

France splits financial supervision between two authorities. Under MiCA for crypto-asset service providers, the AMF is the lead competent authority. The ACPR (the prudential supervisor) is involved on prudential dimensions and where banking/e-money perimeters intersect (relevant for EMT-type activity — see MiCA ART vs EMT). For a typical CASP, the AMF is the primary interlocutor; the ACPR's role is more pronounced where prudential or e-money aspects arise.

PSAN vs the AMF's MiCA process

The most common confusion: assuming an existing PSAN registration carries into MiCA automatically. It does not. PSAN is the French national regime created by the 2019 PACTE law. CASP authorization is the EU-wide MiCA regime. The AMF runs the CASP authorization process and has published doctrine to facilitate the transition for PSAN-registered providers — but the provider must actively obtain CASP authorization. The full mechanics, deadline, and consequences are in the dedicated article (see PSAN to CASP migration).

The transferable point: the AMF is not "re-stamping" PSAN registrations. It is authorizing under a new regime, on a clock that ends 1 July 2026 in France.

Passporting: the upside of AMF authorization

A MiCA CASP authorization granted by the AMF is passportable across the EU/EEA, subject to the MiCA notification process. This is the structural upgrade over PSAN, which covered France only. The AMF becomes the home authority for a French-authorized CASP; passporting then enables provision of services into other Member States without separate national registrations. For a provider with EU ambitions, AMF authorization is the route to the single market — the same point made in the MiCA timeline and PSAN to CASP articles, viewed from the regulator's side.

Why timing is the binding constraint

The AMF has accepted CASP applications since 1 July 2024 and has consistently urged providers not to delay. The reason is arithmetic: the French transitional period ends 1 July 2026, and the authorization assessment takes months. A provider that engages the AMF process late risks not being authorized in time and therefore having to cease crypto-asset services in France at the deadline. The AMF's role here is not only to authorize but to signal the timeline risk — and it has done so explicitly.

What a firm should actually do

1. Treat the AMF as the primary MiCA interlocutor for crypto-asset services in France.
2. Engage the CASP authorization process early — the 1 July 2026 deadline is the binding constraint.
3. Read the AMF's published doctrine, not just the MiCA text — French application detail lives there.
4. Map ACPR touchpoints if your activity has prudential or e-money dimensions.
5. Plan passporting from AMF authorization if you intend EU-wide operation.

Where vendors fit

• ADAN and industry bodies — track AMF doctrine and transition communications.
• Cryptio — financial records expected in an authorization file and ongoing supervision.
• Sumsub — KYC/AML expected of an authorized CASP.

Tooling supports the authorization and supervision burden; it does not substitute for the AMF process or French counsel.

How Wag3s helps

Wag3s Ledger provides the audit-ready financial records and multi-chain reconciliation that support a CASP authorization file and the systems-and-controls expectations the AMF supervises. It does not change the AMF process; it helps a firm be ready for it. See the Ledger product page.

Further reading

• MiCA Regulation: What It Means for Crypto Businesses
• PSAN to CASP Migration (France)
• MiCA Sanctions: AMF Enforcement Powers
• MiCA Timeline 2024-2026
• MiCA ART vs EMT Stablecoins
• MiCA Implementation Checklist

Sources

• AMF — the European MiCA regulation overview
• AMF — MiCA: AMF now accepting CASP authorisation applications
• AMF — reminder that the transitional period for DASPs ends 1 July 2026
• Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 (MiCA) — EUR-Lex
• Code monétaire et financier (French Monetary and Financial Code), crypto-asset service provisions