Best Crypto Exchanges in France

Since 1 July 2026, only crypto exchanges authorised under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) may serve customers in France. The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) keeps the list of who qualifies.

The deadline ended France's PSAN registration regime and pushed Binance, Bitget and MEXC out. Kraken, Bybit EU, OKX and Coinbase now serve French users through EU licences passported into France, while Coinhouse and Paymium hold MiCA licences from the AMF itself.

French investors also pay a flat 31.4% tax on crypto gains and must declare every foreign exchange account each year.

We checked every licence against the AMF white list and the ESMA register of crypto-asset service providers, compared euro deposits and spot fees, and weighed the results against our exchange rankings.

This guide to the best crypto exchanges in France puts spot trading first and treats regulated futures as a bonus. It is not tax or legal advice.

Top 7 Crypto Exchanges in France

Exchange	Licence covering France	Spot maker / taker	Regulated futures	French website	Key nuance
Kraken	MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland), MiFID (CySEC)	0.40% / 0.80%	Yes	Yes	Spot, futures and stocks in one account
Bybit EU	MiCA (Austria's FMA)	0.25% / 0.25%	No, MiFID licence pending	Yes	Top Coinperps global ranking, card deposits at 1.1%
OKX	MiCA (Malta's MFSA), MiFID	0.20% / 0.35% (0.08% / 0.10% with X-Perps)	Yes (X-Perps)	Yes	French app and support since February 2025
Coinbase	MiCA (Luxembourg's CSSF), MiFID (CySEC)	0.25% / 0.50%	Yes	Yes	Futures launched with France named in March 2026
Coinhouse	MiCA (AMF)	0.99% per buy	No	Yes	First French PSAN, licensed by the AMF in May 2026
Bitpanda	MiCA (Austria's FMA)	0.99% to 2.49% per trade	No	Yes	Crypto, stocks and ETFs in one app
Paymium	MiCA (AMF)	0.40% / 0.60% on BTC/EUR	No	Yes	Paris Bitcoin exchange, no foreign account to declare

1. Kraken

Best forSpot, futures and stocks in one accountReviewVisit Kraken

Licence covering France

MiCA (Central Bank of Ireland), MiFID (CySEC)

Spot maker / taker

0.40% / 0.80%

Regulated futures

Yes

French website

Yes

Kraken is the best crypto exchange in France because it pairs a MiCA licence for spot trading with regulated EU futures, free euro deposits and more than 600 crypto pairs on a French-language website.

French customers contract with Payward Europe Solutions Limited, which the Central Bank of Ireland authorised as a crypto-asset service provider (CASP). The AMF list shows it serving France from 25 June 2025, and Kraken's licensing page sets out its EEA licences.

Derivatives come from Payward Europe Digital Solutions (CY) Limited, which holds CySEC licence 342/17. Its EEA eligibility rules require an appropriateness questionnaire and a tax number and exclude no EEA country.

SEPA and SEPA Instant deposits are free from Kraken's side, with a €1 minimum, while debit cards cost €0.25 plus 3.75%. Kraken Pro charges makers 0.40% and takers 0.80% at the lowest tier, under the cross-platform tiers introduced on 9 July 2026.

Kraken's proof of reserves for 30 June 2026 shows 102.9% Bitcoin backing. Our Kraken restricted countries guide covers regional access, or open an account through Kraken.

2. Bybit EU

Best forTop Coinperps global ranking, card deposits at 1.1%ReviewVisit Bybit

Licence covering France

MiCA (Austria's FMA)

Spot maker / taker

0.25% / 0.25%

Regulated futures

No, MiFID licence pending

French website

Yes

Bybit tops our global exchange rankings, and its Vienna-based arm, Bybit EU GmbH, offers French residents a MiCA-licensed version with a French interface.

Austria's FMA authorised Bybit EU on 28 May 2025, and the AMF lists it serving France from the same date. Its path back was rocky. The AMF blacklisted Bybit in 2022 and the exchange withdrew from France in 2024. The AMF removed it from the blacklist in February 2025.

Since 5 October, spot trading has cost a flat 0.25% for makers and takers below €100,000 of monthly volume. SEPA deposits are free, and the card fee is 1.1% for EU Visa and Mastercard.

One-Click Buy carries a spread of 1.30% on weekdays and 1.80% at night and weekends, so the order book is cheaper. The EU platform lists about 110 coins but no perpetual futures until its MiFID II licence, applied for in September 2025, is granted.

Bybit's proof of reserves for 23 September 2026 shows 104% Bitcoin backing across the group. It lost about $1.5 billion in ETH to a North Korean hack in February 2025 and covered client losses in full. Compare it in our Bybit vs Kraken guide, or sign up through Bybit.

3. OKX

Best forFrench app and support since February 2025ReviewVisit OKX

Licence covering France

MiCA (Malta's MFSA), MiFID

Spot maker / taker

0.20% / 0.35% (0.08% / 0.10% with X-Perps)

Regulated futures

Yes (X-Perps)

French website

Yes

OKX is the cheapest exchange here for active traders who open its regulated futures account, and France is one of its priority European markets.

OKX Europe Limited holds a MiCA licence from the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), granted on 27 January 2025, and the AMF lists it serving France from 15 February 2025. Its French launch promised a French app, website and customer service, more than 270 cryptos and free SEPA deposits and withdrawals.

The EEA fee schedule charges 0.20% maker and 0.35% taker, falling to 0.08% and 0.10% for users who also open an X-Perps account. X-Perps, launched on 15 April 2026, are five-year futures with a funding rate, issued under MiFID II across the EEA.

OKX's proof of reserves dated 3 October 2026 shows 110% Bitcoin backing. In February 2025 its parent pleaded guilty in the US to unlicensed money transmission and agreed to pay about $505 million. See our OKX vs Kraken comparison.

4. Coinbase

Best forFutures launched with France named in March 2026ReviewVisit Coinbase Futures

Licence covering France

MiCA (Luxembourg's CSSF), MiFID (CySEC)

Spot maker / taker

0.25% / 0.50%

Regulated futures

Yes

French website

Yes

Coinbase is the only exchange here in the S&P 500, and it named France among the first countries for its regulated European futures.

Coinbase registered as a PSAN with the AMF in December 2023. French customers moved to Coinbase Luxembourg S.A., authorised under MiCA by Luxembourg's CSSF, on 6 October 2025.

On 9 March 2026 Coinbase launched regulated futures in 26 European countries, including France, through a CySEC-licensed firm. Advanced trading charges 0.25% maker and 0.50% taker at the EU entry tier after a fee cut on 16 September, while the simple app charges more through a spread.

French users can pay by SEPA, PayPal or Apple Pay. A May 2025 data breach exposed customers' personal details, and the Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe €21.46 million in November 2025 for transaction monitoring failures. Open an account through Coinbase.

5. Coinhouse

Best forFirst French PSAN, licensed by the AMF in May 2026

Licence covering France

MiCA (AMF)

Spot maker / taker

0.99% per buy

Regulated futures

No

French website

Yes

Coinhouse is the strongest French-licensed option, a Paris platform that became France's first registered PSAN in March 2020 and received its MiCA licence from the AMF on 7 May 2026.

Its licence, A2026-013, appears on the AMF white list with seven services, including advice and portfolio management. Co-founded by Eric Larchevêque in 2014, it offers 62 cryptos and claims more than 800,000 investors.

Its August 2026 fee grid charges 0.99% on buys funded from its euro account, 1.99% by card and 1.29% on sales. SEPA transfers in and out are free, custody is free, and crypto withdrawals cost the network fee plus 0.29%.

As a French company, Coinhouse needs no 3916-bis declaration, and clients can book appointments with Paris-based advisers. It suits beginners who prefer a French counterparty to the lowest fees.

6. Bitpanda

Best forCrypto, stocks and ETFs in one app

Licence covering France

MiCA (Austria's FMA)

Spot maker / taker

0.99% to 2.49% per trade

Regulated futures

No

French website

Yes

Bitpanda is built for investors who want crypto, stocks, ETFs and metals in one app, and it has held French registration since December 2020.

French customers contract with Bitpanda GmbH, which Austria's FMA authorised under MiCA on 9 April 2025 and the AMF lists from 14 April 2025. It became Paris Saint-Germain's crypto partner in January 2025 and powers crypto inside N26.

The app builds its fee into the price, and its French cost disclosure, dated 8 July 2026, sets 0.99% for Bitcoin and stablecoins, 1.49% for most other coins and 2.49% for small caps. Société Générale's EURCV stablecoin trades free of charge.

In August the FMA fined Bitpanda GmbH €70,000 for MiCA breaches in its marketing, the regulator's first published MiCA penalty.

7. Paymium

Best forParis Bitcoin exchange, no foreign account to declare

Licence covering France

MiCA (AMF)

Spot maker / taker

0.40% / 0.60% on BTC/EUR

Regulated futures

No

French website

Yes

Paymium is the French choice for Bitcoin buyers who want an order book, with BTC/EUR fees of 0.40% for makers and 0.60% for takers.

Paymium SAS received AMF licence A2026-018 on 22 June 2026, including the right to operate a trading platform, after holding a PSAN registration since March 2021. It says it has served French investors since 2011.

Its fee page sets BTC/EUR order-book fees that fall to 0% maker and 0.05% taker at high volumes, while simple buys cost 1.49%. SEPA deposits are free, withdrawals cost €0.99, and swapping EURCV for euros costs nothing.

Paymium lists around eight coins, led by Bitcoin, Ether and Solana, and as a French company it needs no 3916-bis declaration.

How We Ranked These Exchanges

We ranked exchanges first on whether they hold a licence that covers France, then on euro deposit methods, local costs, French-language support and platform strength, following our ranking methodology.

Licence status came from the AMF white list, downloaded on 22 October 2026, and the ESMA register, and fees from each exchange's published schedule. An exchange without a licence could not make the list, whatever its global score.

Among licensed venues, our exchange rankings of liquidity, fees, regulation and features set the order. Bybit and OKX rank highest globally, but Kraken takes first place in France on its licences, regulated futures and free instant deposits.

Coinhouse and Paymium rank fifth and seventh as the strongest platforms licensed by the AMF itself. Futures counted only as a tiebreaker, so cheap spot trading and euro funding outweighed extra leverage.

Is Crypto Legal in France?

Buying, holding and selling crypto is legal in France, provided you use a crypto-asset service provider (CASP) authorised under MiCA, either by the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) or by another EU regulator whose licence is passported into France.

From PSAN Registration to MiCA

The PACTE law of 22 May 2019 created the status of digital asset service provider, known as PSAN, and made AMF registration compulsory for custody, buying and selling crypto for euros, crypto-to-crypto trading and running a trading platform. The AMF checked managers and anti-money laundering controls after a binding opinion from the banking supervisor, the ACPR.

The AMF registered 117 PSANs between Coinhouse in March 2020 and the last one in December 2024, according to its open-data white list. A PSAN registration carried no EU passport and checked only money laundering controls, far less than a licence.

The End of the PSAN Transition

MiCA has applied to crypto providers across the EU since 30 December 2024. France chose the longest transition allowed, 18 months, so registered PSANs could keep serving French clients until 1 July 2026, as the AMF reminded providers in February 2026. Providing crypto services without a licence after that date carries up to two years in prison and a €30,000 fine.

The AMF struck off 54 providers on 2 July 2026, Binance France SAS among them, and its June 2026 notice told users of unlicensed platforms to move their assets to an authorised CASP or a self-custody wallet.

How to Check an Exchange's Licence

Search the AMF white list, which covers both AMF-licensed firms and exchanges passported from other EU states, and cross-check the ESMA register. Search by legal entity, because Kraken appears as Payward Europe Solutions Limited and SwissBorg as Blocknodes SAS.

The AMF warns that MiCA protections apply only to the authorised EU entity, so an app that moves you to a sister company outside the EU leaves that protection behind.

Exchanges Without a Licence in France

Binance, Bitget, MEXC and HTX are absent from the AMF list. Binance told EU users in June 2026 that it could no longer accept new registrations after failing to secure a MiCA licence, and Paris prosecutors have investigated the group since 2023. Our Binance restricted countries guide tracks its status.

The AMF's crypto blacklist of unauthorised sites names MEXC and CoinEx (added in June 2024), BloFin, Pionex and Margex, and its derivatives list includes Bitunix and BitMart. See our MEXC and Bitget restricted countries guides.

France and the Passport Debate

The AMF has pushed for tougher oversight of licences granted elsewhere. In September 2025 it joined Italy's CONSOB and Austria's FMA in calling for direct ESMA supervision of the largest crypto firms, after ESMA's peer review of Malta's regulator found gaps. On 9 October 2026 EU finance ministers backed ESMA supervision for the most significant providers only, and the reform is not yet law.

The Travel Rule and Private Wallets

The EU's Transfer of Funds Regulation requires exchanges to send sender and recipient details with every crypto transfer. For transfers above €1,000 to or from your own wallet, the exchange must check that the wallet belongs to you.

Crypto Platforms Licensed by the AMF

French residents can choose from dozens of crypto providers licensed in France itself, from neobanks to traditional banks.

The AMF's white list held 36 French firms on 20 October 2026. Thirty hold AMF licences, and six are banks and asset managers that notified the AMF under Article 60 of MiCA, the shorter path for firms already licensed in finance. In its July 2026 update, the AMF said France ranks second in the EU for crypto providers.

French Apps and Brokers

Deblock, a Lille-based app with a French IBAN, received the first AMF MiCA licence on 23 May 2025. Its free plan charges 1.99% per trade, falling to 0.49% on the €10 monthly plan.

Bitstack, licensed on 30 June 2025, rounds up card spending into Bitcoin, with buy fees from 1.5% down to 1%. SwissBorg moved its European business to the French company Blocknodes SAS, licensed on 5 March 2026, and Meria, the former Just Mining, followed on 22 June 2026.

Banks Selling Crypto

Groupe BPCE's subsidiary Hexarq, licensed on 5 February 2026, lets Banque Populaire and Caisse d'Epargne clients buy Bitcoin, Ether, Solana and USDC in their banking app for €2.99 a month plus 1.5% per trade.

Société Générale's crypto arm, SG-FORGE, issues the EURCV and USDCV stablecoins under MiCA, and Banque Delubac serves private and institutional clients. BoursoBank and BNP Paribas offer crypto only through exchange-traded products in a securities account.

Passported Exchanges

Another 160 providers licensed elsewhere in the EU serve France through a passport, including the big exchanges in our ranking, Bitvavo, Bitstamp, Gemini, eToro, Trade Republic and Revolut, which won a French banking licence in August 2026 but still runs crypto from Cyprus.

How to Buy Crypto With Euros in France

The cheapest way to buy crypto in France is a free SEPA Instant transfer from your bank to a licensed exchange, then a limit order on its order book.

1. Pick an exchange from the AMF white list and verify your identity with your French ID card or passport. Exchanges also ask for your tax number.
2. Send euros by SEPA Instant. Euro-area banks have had to send instant transfers since 9 October 2025, at no more than the price of a standard transfer, with a free check of the payee's name.
3. Skip expensive cards. Card fees range from 1.1% at Bybit EU to 1.99% at Coinhouse and 3.75% plus €0.25 at Kraken.
4. Buy on the order book. A limit order on Kraken Pro, Bybit EU or Paymium costs a fraction of an instant buy, whose spread reaches 1.80% on Bybit EU at weekends.
5. Withdraw to your own wallet if you trade rarely, keep records for form 2086 and declare every foreign exchange account on form 3916-bis.

French banks may question large or repeated transfers to exchanges as part of their anti-money laundering checks, and the AMF urges savers to use only authorised providers.

MiCA also changed which stablecoins you can buy. Licensed exchanges may list only stablecoins from authorised e-money issuers, so Binance and Kraken removed USDT from EEA trading in March 2025. Circle's USDC and EURC, issued through Circle's French entity, and SG-FORGE's EURCV took its place on most EU platforms.

About one in nine French adults owns crypto, according to the ADAN 2026 barometer, compared with 17% in Germany and 20% in the Netherlands.

Crypto Futures and Leverage Rules in France

French residents can trade crypto futures legally only through a firm with an EU investment licence under MiFID II, and retail leverage on crypto is capped at 2:1.

The AMF decided in February 2018 that cash-settled crypto contracts are financial contracts, so offering them needs an investment services licence and advertising them online is banned under the Sapin 2 law. Article 2(4) of MiCA confirms that a crypto licence alone cannot cover derivatives.

Since 1 August 2019 the AMF has applied ESMA's restrictions on contracts for difference to retail clients in France. For crypto that means 50% initial margin, or 2:1 leverage, plus negative balance protection and a 50% margin close-out.

In February 2026 ESMA warned that perpetual futures are likely CFDs under EU rules, whatever their commercial name. Kraken, OKX and Coinbase run MiFID-licensed derivatives arms for EEA clients, while Bybit EU and Crypto.com offer French users no perpetuals.

The influencer law of 9 June 2023 bans influencers from promoting crypto CFDs and other leveraged contracts outright. A French creator advertising 100x perpetuals on an offshore exchange is breaking that law.

Our guide to perpetual futures regulation and European futures platform ranking go deeper.

Crypto Taxes in France

France taxes crypto gains at a flat 31.4% when you sell for euros or pay with crypto, while swapping one coin for another stays untaxed.

The 31.4% Flat Tax

Article 150 VH bis of the tax code applies the flat tax, known as the PFU, of 12.8% income tax plus social contributions. The 2026 social security law raised the CSG on capital income by 1.4 points, so social contributions rose from 17.2% to 18.6%, according to Mayer Brown. The increase applies to gains made in 2025, so the 31.4% rate already hits the returns filed in spring 2026.

Households whose total sales stay at or below €305 in a year pay nothing. Above that, the whole gain is taxed from the first euro, calculated on form 2086 from the value of your entire crypto portfolio. Losses offset gains in the same year only, and MPs rejected a 10-year carry-forward on 16 October 2026.

You can opt for the progressive income tax scale instead of the flat 12.8% on disposals since 2023, which suits low earners but covers all your investment income for that year. Habitual traders who operate like professionals are taxed as non-commercial profits (BNC) instead, and staking rewards still have no official rule.

Declaring Foreign Exchange Accounts

Every account at an exchange based outside France must be declared each year on form 3916-bis, even if it is empty or closed. Kraken, Coinbase, Bybit EU and Bitpanda are all foreign entities, so a MiCA licence does not remove this duty, while accounts at French firms such as Coinhouse or Paymium need no 3916-bis.

Undeclared accounts cost €750 each, rising to €1,500 when your foreign crypto accounts exceed €50,000. The June 2026 anti-fraud law also gave the tax office 10 years to reassess undeclared foreign crypto accounts.

DAC8 and the Next Budget

The 2025 finance law brought DAC8, the EU's crypto reporting directive, into French law, so exchanges report every transaction from 1 January 2026 to the tax authorities.

In the 2027 budget debate, the National Assembly on 16 October 2026 voted to tax swaps into euro and dollar stablecoins such as USDC and EURC from 2027, but the measure is not law yet. A 2025 attempt to add crypto to a wealth tax on "unproductive" assets was dropped from the final 2026 budget.

Risks and Scams to Watch

France's most serious crypto risk is physical, because holders and their families have become targets for kidnappings, while online fraud remains the most common way to lose money.

Crypto Kidnappings in France

In a "wrench attack", criminals use violence to force victims to hand over crypto. The organised crime prosecutor counted more than 135 cases since 2023, with 88 people charged by April 2026, and the interior minister reported 77 kidnappings and extortions in the first half of 2026 alone.

Ledger co-founder David Balland was abducted in January 2025, and in May 2025 neighbours fought off an attempt to kidnap the daughter of Paymium's chief executive in central Paris. The government offered crypto holders priority access to emergency lines and home security assessments.

A breach at the French crypto tax service Waltio in January 2026 exposed users' emails and portfolio totals. Keep your holdings private, use a separate email for exchanges and tax tools, and store long-term coins where they cannot be emptied in one session under duress.

Scams and Fake Recovery Offers

Fake investment platforms, most of them selling crypto, top the scams reported to the AMF and ACPR, whose joint unit blacklisted more than 1,300 new unauthorised actors in 2025. The AMF's crypto blacklist now holds 247 entries.

The authorities put financial scam losses at at least €500 million a year, with an average reported loss of €29,000. Recovery scams then target the same victims, often posing as the AMF or a lawyer, but no authority ever charges a fee to recover funds.

No Compensation Scheme for Crypto

The deposit guarantee fund covers bank deposits up to €100,000 and securities up to €70,000, but not crypto held at an exchange. Spreading holdings across licensed providers and keeping long-term coins in your own wallet limits the damage if a platform fails.

Bottom Line

Kraken is the best crypto exchange in France, pairing a MiCA licence with regulated futures, free SEPA Instant deposits and a French website. Bybit EU has our highest global ranking, and OKX has the lowest fees with an X-Perps account.

Coinhouse and Paymium are the strongest options licensed by the AMF itself, with Coinhouse suited to beginners who want French advisers and Paymium to Bitcoin buyers who want an order book. Coinbase fits buyers who value a listed company, and Bitpanda investors who also want stocks and ETFs.

Check every platform on the AMF white list before depositing, declare foreign exchange accounts on form 3916-bis and treat unlicensed exchanges offering high leverage as a risk to your money. Our MiCA licensed exchanges guide compares the full EU field.