Société Générale, France’s third largest bank and sixth in Europe in terms of market cap, has quietly obtained authorization from French authorities that allows it to legally operate digital assets in the country. With this, the customers of the banking giant can custody, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies through the help of its integrated blockchain focused subsidiary known as Société Générale Forgé. 

Société Générale was founded back in 1864 and has a legacy of following upcoming financial trends. The bank received a digital asset service provider (DASP) license from Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF), which is France’s financial markets regulator tasked to see if an institute or a firm can offer crypto services or not. 

Currently, in France, many venture capitalists and startups struggle with finding regulated solutions for digital assets. The latest ruling ensures that there is some relaxation on AMF’s part, and those who were hiding their digital asset investments can now seek the services of Société Générale. 

A Warm Welcome For Digital Assets

What’s interesting is that just a few months back, in July, BNP Paribas, another French bank signed a digital asset custody service with Metaco, a Swiss digital asset company. Additionally, back in April, Delubac & Cie became the first French bank to obtain a license in the country, giving it full legal authority to offer regulated digital services after forming a partnership with Taurus, a Swiss crypto infrastructure provider. 

In early May, France also took a major decision after giving a license to Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume, granting it full rights to provide digital asset services in the country. 

The outlook for France as a crypto-welcoming country does not seem to be ending anytime soon as just a week prior to this statement, Crypto.com, a famous Singapore based crypto exchange announced an investment package of $145 million in the country, which also includes the opening of a franchise and a regional office in Paris. 

France is not the only country where a growing number of banks are obtaining licenses to accept and offer their customers services linked to digital assets, as the trend is spreading globally. Some of the most renowned banks in the United States and beyond have secured legal positions from their respective regulator’s allowing their customers to expand their investment portfolios. 

Well-known credit card companies are also betting big on cryptocurrencies including Mastercard and Visa by allowing their customers that are located globally to make payments in cryptocurrencies. 

While there are plenty of countries and banks that do not accept cryptocurrencies and are skeptical of their future, however, by now, the trend seems to be clear because despite the ongoing bear market; with Bitcoin losing more than 80% from it’s All Time High that it achieved a year ago, the demand for crypto is growing globally. Especially with other aspects of web 3.0 including DAO and NFTs becoming popular and only accepting crypto, it is clear that more banks around the world will open doors to include digital assets as a part of their business model.

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