FRANCE Trends and Developments Contributed by: Hubert de Vauplane, Arnaud Grünthaler and Hugo Bordet, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP
From Crypto Markets to Institutional Infrastructure: France’s New Blockchain Strategy Introduction The French blockchain landscape entered a new phase in 2026. The debate is no longer centred pri- marily on the regulation of speculative crypto-assets, but on how blockchain technologies should be inte- grated into mainstream financial infrastructure. This institutional shift is visible across several parallel developments. Banque de France and French banking institutions are accelerating work on tokenised depos- its, wholesale central bank digital currency (CBDC) and distributed ledger technology (DLT)-based set- tlement infrastructures. At the same time, France is progressively adapting traditional financial-law con- cepts – including collateral, payment services and structured financial products – to blockchain-based assets and infrastructures. More broadly, French authorities now present block- chain not as a parallel financial ecosystem, but as a future layer of regulated European financial infrastruc- ture. The implementation of the EU Markets in Crypto- Assets Regulation (MiCA) also marks the end of the first phase of European crypto regulation. The focus is no longer limited to the licensing of crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) but increasingly concerns the integration of tokenised finance into payment sys- tems, market infrastructures, and prudential supervi- sion. France moves from crypto markets to tokenised financial infrastructure One of the defining trends of 2026 is the institution- alisation of tokenised finance. In January 2026, the French and German finance ministries launched a joint taskforce dedicated to digital finance, tokenisa- tion and DLT market infrastructure. The initiative aims to identify policy recommendations capable of sup- porting large-scale European digital finance infrastruc- tures before the end of 2026. At the same time, Banque de France and Paris finan- cial market participants intensified work on tokenised settlement assets and DLT-based financial infrastruc-
ture. In March 2026, the Groupe Infrastructures de Place (GIP), co-ordinated by Banque de France and involving major banking and financial actors, pub- lished recommendations supporting the develop- ment of tokenised commercial bank money through “tokenised deposits” and “deposit tokens”. The report emphasises interoperability and the pres- ervation of the “singleness of money”, and the need to preserve the two-tier monetary system, including the role of both central bank money and commercial bank money within tokenised financial infrastructures. Banque de France also positioned itself as a lead- ing European central bank in the field of tokenised finance through the Eurosystem’s Pontes and Appia initiatives, which aim to support interoperable DLT- based settlement infrastructures anchored in central bank money. Together, these developments demonstrate that France increasingly treats tokenisation as a strategic infrastructure issue rather than a purely crypto-native innovation. This institutional approach also reflects broader European concerns regarding technological sovereignty, the competitiveness of European capital markets, and the future role of central bank money within tokenised financial systems. At the same time, French institutional actors increas- ingly frame tokenised finance as a question of Euro- pean monetary and financial sovereignty. Banque de France officials have repeatedly highlighted the strategic importance of preserving European control over payment and settlement infrastructures at a time when dollar-denominated stablecoins and non-Euro- pean digital payment ecosystems continue to expand globally. In this context, tokenised deposits, wholesale central bank money and interoperable DLT-based set- tlement infrastructures are increasingly presented not merely as technological innovations, but as compo- nents of a future European financial architecture capa- ble of supporting both market efficiency and monetary stability.
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