France: A Mature Market Under a Regulator That Already Knows ATMs by Name

France has a mature, well-supervised crypto ATM market — but roughly 90 legacy operators still lack the required MiCA licence, and unauthorised operation is treated as a criminal offence, not just a paperwork issue.

● Orange

90 Legacy PSANs still unlicensed under MiCA (Jan 2026)

40% Say they don't intend to seek authorisation

2 yrs + €30k Criminal penalty for unauthorised operation

Operating a crypto ATM in France is fully legal, and France has grown into one of the larger crypto ATM markets in Europe, with estimates ranging from around 60 to over 100 machines concentrated in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille.^1,2 France's national transitional regime for crypto firms — built on the pre-MiCA PSAN (prestataire de services sur actifs numériques) registration — expired on 1 July 2026, so any operator now needs a full MiCA Crypto-Asset Service Provider (CASP) authorisation from the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), with input from the prudential supervisor ACPR on AML/CFT and financial-soundness aspects.^3,4 The advantage for an operator is that French regulators are unusually experienced with this specific business model: the AMF and ACPR have already issued a public notice specifically addressed to crypto ATM operators, after observing a surge in machine deployments, reminding them of their registration duties — evidence that French supervisors already understand and actively watch this niche.⁵ The obstacle is enforcement risk and timing: as of January 2026, roughly 90 legacy PSANs still lacked MiCA authorisation, only 30% of them had even applied, and 40% openly said they had no intention to, prompting the AMF to demand orderly wind-down plans from anyone who would miss the deadline — and France treats operating without authorisation as a criminal offence, not merely an administrative one.^6,7 As in most markets on our legislation map, General Bytes as a hardware and software vendor is not itself performing a licensable activity; it is the in-country operator of the machines who must hold the CASP authorisation. For GENERAL BYTES, France is a proven, closely-supervised market best approached through an operator that is either already MiCA-authorised or far enough along in that process to have a credible authorisation date.

Last updated: July 2026

Regulatory Framework and Its Evolution

France built one of continental Europe's most mature national crypto regimes well before MiCA existed. The 2019 PACTE law created the PSAN status with two tiers — a mandatory basic registration covering custody, crypto-to-fiat or crypto-to-crypto exchange, and trading-platform operation (AML-focused only), and an optional, fuller "enhanced" registration or licence adding prudential, governance, and conduct requirements.⁸ By late 2024, more than 100 PSANs were registered, and the regime was widely regarded as the most developed in continental Europe.⁸ Crucially for ATM operators specifically, the AMF and ACPR had already clarified, through a dedicated public notice, that operating a crypto-asset ATM (buying or selling digital assets for cash) is itself a registrable service under Article L.54-10-3 of the Monetary and Financial Code, requiring AMF registration granted only after ACPR assent — French regulators were watching this exact business model years before MiCA arrived.^5,9

MiCA superseded the PSAN regime as a standalone framework from 30 December 2024, implemented into French law via the DDADUE law, a 2024 ordinance, and a 2025 decree.³ France gave legacy PSANs a transition window running to 30 June 2026 to secure full MiCA authorisation, one day short of the EU-wide 1 July 2026 backstop; that window has now closed, and new entrants apply directly for MiCA CASP authorisation under the standard AMF procedure with no PSAN detour available.

Getting Licensed: AMF Review, ACPR in the Background

The AMF is France's lead authority for CASP authorisation — receiving and assessing applications, supervising authorised providers, and acting against unauthorised firms — while the ACPR contributes on prudential and AML/CFT aspects of the review rather than running a separate parallel process.¹⁰ Formal MiCA review periods can take up to four months once a complete file is submitted, but the AMF has been explicit and public that first-submitted files are rarely complete: clarifications or substantial changes are the norm, not the exception, which pushes realistic end-to-end timelines out to roughly 5 to 6 months in practice.^11,12 Total costs are estimated at €5,000–€50,000 in application fees plus €40,000–€150,000 in advisory costs, on top of MiCA's standard Article 67 capital tiers (€50,000 / €125,000 / €150,000 depending on service class — a cash-to-crypto ATM sits at the €125,000 exchange-services tier).¹¹

Management must satisfy fit-and-proper and residency requirements, and only legal entities — not individuals or informal structures — can hold a CASP authorisation.¹¹ As with the rest of our legislation map, this authorisation sits with the in-country operator of the machines, not with General Bytes as hardware and software vendor.

AML and KYC

French crypto ATMs generally require at least SMS verification for smaller transactions, with fuller identity checks kicking in for larger amounts — consistent with the EU-wide direction toward full KYC rather than an anonymity-premium model.² The pre-MiCA PSAN registration already required operators to build organisation, procedures, and internal controls capable of ensuring AML/CFT compliance and enabling asset freezes, so incoming MiCA-authorised operators inherit a jurisdiction where this infrastructure is a known, well-precedented expectation rather than a novel build.⁹ MiCA's Travel Rule and transaction-monitoring obligations apply on top of this domestic baseline and should be treated as day-one requirements, not a later addition.

Banking

France's dual-regulator structure — AMF for the crypto-specific licence, ACPR for prudential and AML soundness — mirrors the assessment French banks themselves apply before onboarding a crypto client, which means a completed CASP authorisation communicates directly in terms a French bank already understands. This is a genuine advantage relative to jurisdictions where a bank must independently evaluate an unfamiliar licensing regime; in France, the licence itself already encodes much of the diligence a bank would otherwise need to perform from scratch.

The Next 24 Months: Enforcement Catches Up With a Crowded Legacy Field

The next two years in France are dominated by the fallout from the PSAN-to-CASP transition rather than by new market opening. As of the AMF's own January 2026 count, roughly 90 legacy PSANs had not yet secured MiCA authorisation, only 30% had even filed an application, and 40% stated outright they did not intend to — a remarkable admission that a large share of France's historically most mature crypto sector was choosing to exit rather than requalify.⁶ At a press event in May 2026, AMF president Marie-Anne Barbat-Layani confirmed the deadline would not move and that non-compliant firms would be required to present orderly shutdown plans; from 1 July 2026, operating as an unauthorised CASP in France carries criminal liability of up to two years' imprisonment and a €30,000 fine, a materially harder consequence than the administrative fines typical elsewhere in the EU.^6,7

2023 estimate As few as 14 machines nationally	Mid-2025 estimate 60 to over 100 machines (Paris, Lyon, Marseille)
CoinATMRadar (live) Currently shows zero tracked machines	AMF/ACPR view Enough machines deployed to issue a public notice addressed directly to ATM operators

The ATM count itself should be treated with some caution: older sources from 2023 describe as few as 14 machines nationally, while 2025-26 sources describe growth to over 100, and CoinATMRadar's live country listing currently shows no tracked machines at all — sources diverge sharply, and the true installed base is worth verifying directly against AMF's registered-operator list before sizing the opportunity.^1,13,14 What is not in doubt is regulatory attention: the AMF and ACPR have already gone out of their way to address ATM operators by name, which signals that any new entrant should expect closer scrutiny than in less-attentive markets. For GENERAL BYTES, the sensible posture is to treat France as attractive but consolidating — the winners of this PSAN shake-out will be well-capitalised, already-authorised operators, and partnering with one of them is a more efficient route to the French market than backing a new, unauthorised entrant into a field the AMF is actively thinning out.

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Sources and references

1. France crypto ATM count estimate (~100+, mid-2025) — blog.mexc.com
2. SMS/basic verification for smaller ATM transactions — bitbo.io
3. MiCA implementation via DDADUE law, ordinance, decree — cryptoslate.com
4. AMF as lead authority, ACPR on AML/CFT and prudential aspects — wag3s.io
5. AMF/ACPR notice addressed to crypto ATM operators — amf-france.org
6. 90 non-compliant PSANs, 30% filed, 40% not intending to — cointribune.com
7. Criminal liability (2 years, €30,000 fine) for unauthorised operation — crassula.io
8. PSAN two-tier regime under 2019 PACTE law, 100+ registered by 2024 — crassula.io
9. ATM registration duty under Article L.54-10-3, AML/CFT controls required — amf-france.org
10. AMF as CASP application authority, ACPR prudential role — wag3s.io
11. AMF process timeline, costs, capital tiers, entity requirement — manimama.eu
12. AMF public statement on incomplete first-submission files — amf-france.org
13. Historical low ATM count (14 machines, 2023) — verify — coincub.com
14. CoinATMRadar showing no currently tracked machines — verify — coinatmradar.com

Legal Disclaimer: This article by GENERAL BYTES is for informational purposes only and does not constitute formal legal, financial, or investment advice. France's PSAN-to-CASP transition has just closed and the AMF's enforcement posture toward non-compliant operators is actively developing; always consult specialised local legal counsel and confirm current AMF and ACPR requirements before considering market entry.