France’s PACTE Law digital asset regime refers to the crypto-asset provisions of Loi n° 2019-486 du 22 mai 2019 relative à la croissance et la transformation des entreprises. For crypto-law tracking, the regime is best understood as France’s former national framework for public token offerings and digital asset service providers. It created an optional Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) visa for certain initial coin offerings and a registration and optional licensing framework for prestataires de services sur actifs numériques (DASPs). As of July 6, 2026, the profile should be treated as historical and superseded: France’s MiCA transition ended on July 1, 2026, and the operative service-provider framework is now the EU crypto-asset service provider (CASP) regime implemented through French law.
What the PACTE digital asset regime covered
Article 85 of the PACTE Law inserted a French token-offering framework into the Monetary and Financial Code. It applied to issuers conducting a public offering of tokens that chose to request an AMF visa. The regime defined a token as an intangible asset representing one or more rights that can be issued, recorded, stored, or transferred using distributed ledger technology. Issuers seeking the visa had to prepare an information document for the public, and promotional communications connected with the offer had to be accurate, clear, and not misleading. The AMF reviewed the document and related materials before granting the visa and could withdraw the visa or publicly identify misleading statements about it.
Article 86 created the DASP framework for digital asset services. The covered services included custody or access to digital assets, purchase or sale of digital assets for legal tender, exchange of digital assets for other digital assets, operation of a digital asset trading platform, order reception and transmission, portfolio management, advice, underwriting, and guaranteed or non-guaranteed placement. The regime made AMF registration mandatory for specified services and allowed French-established providers to seek optional AMF licensing for one or more services.
DASP registration, licensing, and regulator roles
Under the PACTE structure, the AMF was the principal market regulator for registration, licensing, public lists, and conduct expectations. The ACPR’s role was important for AML/CFT-related review and supervisory input. AMF materials described checks on the reputation and competence of managers and beneficial owners, as well as AML/CFT compliance for relevant registered services. Optional licensing carried broader requirements, including professional indemnity insurance or own funds, sufficient human and technical resources, resilient IT systems, internal control, claims handling, conflict-management arrangements, AML/CFT procedures, client-contract obligations, and clear client communications.
The regime also addressed access to banking services. Credit institutions were required to use objective, non-discriminatory, and proportionate account-access rules for token issuers with an AMF visa and for registered or licensed DASPs. Decree No. 2019-1213 supplied implementing rules for the token-offering and DASP provisions and entered into force the day after publication in November 2019.
Current status after MiCA
The PACTE framework became transitional once the EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation moved toward application. AMF stated in 2023 that MiCA would replace national frameworks introduced by EU member states, including the French PACTE framework for ICOs and DASPs. French MiCA-adaptation legislation and implementing measures then reworked the Monetary and Financial Code, including the transition from digital asset service providers to crypto-asset service providers.
The transition has now ended. AMF stated that DASPs registered or licensed in France, or providers carrying on certain services before MiCA’s application date, could continue in France only until July 1, 2026. From that date, AMF says only CASPs authorised under MiCA, or eligible financial entities that completed the relevant notification procedure, may provide crypto-asset services in France. Légifrance also shows French crypto-asset service-provider provisions in force from July 1, 2026, tied to Regulation (EU) 2023/1114. For taxonomy purposes, this profile maps to Repealed rather than In force, with a status note that the regime was superseded by MiCA.
Editorial use
This profile should be used to explain France’s pre-MiCA national approach and to link historical PACTE-era coverage with current MiCA and French CASP profiles. It should not be presented as current compliance guidance for new crypto-asset service activity in France.