France’s third-largest bank, Société Générale, has become the first bank to receive a license to offer trading and custody of crypto assets.
Societe Generale has its own cryptocurrency division, SG Forge, which is now licensed to offer buying, selling and custody of digital assets.according to Press release On the SG Forge website, having a DASP (Digital Asset Service Provider) license means that Societe Generale has demonstrated that:
“The combined level of compliance, internal controls, and security and reliability of cybersecurity processes and systems, and the maintenance of adequate regulatory capital”
Societe Generale CEO Jean-Marc Stenger said of the license acquisition:
“With the approval of the DASP license, Societe Generale – FORGE confirms its pioneering role in the crypto-asset ecosystem. This step will allow us to continue supporting institutional clients who wish to benefit from digital asset services that meet the highest compliance and banking security standards.”
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With such an important French bank joining the race to provide crypto services, it is an important part of France’s ambition to become Europe’s premier crypto hub.
The UK will no doubt be watching the move closely. While not in the EU, but still in Europe, it has some advantages over its European competitors and is free to set its own agenda and plans to achieve crypto supremacy in this part of the world.
Other parts of the world looking to take advantage of crypto, such as Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong, etc., will also be watching these events closely.
Yet the United States, the world’s largest economy, has been forced to sit on the sidelines, powerless as the rest of the world begins to divide up the technological spoils. When that happens, its regulatory financial agencies, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), are trying to wipe the cryptocurrency industry off their territory, possibly based on the assumption that cryptocurrencies could pose a threat to the dollar.
And it’s not just U.S. financial institutions. The so-called global financial institutions like the IMF, FATF, etc., plus all the central banks, are working together.
Regardless, no technology in history has been successfully suppressed for any length of time. The fact that the US is on the wrong side here means a lot for the new direction the world power is now following.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It does not provide or be intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
