David Prinçay News

high-end fashion brands and retailers, prompting further interest in offering cryptocurrencies as a means of payment to tap in to fresh pockets of wealth and build loyalty with crypto investors. Until recently, only a handful of luxury brands including LVMH watch labels Hublot and Tag Heuer as well as Kering-owned fashion brands Gucci and Balenciaga have experimented with crypto payment offers. In recent weeks, upscale French luxury department store Printemps announced it was teaming up with the world's largest crypto exchange, Binance, and French financial tech company Lyzi to accept cryptocurrencies including bitcoin and ethereum in its stores in France — becoming the first European department store to do so. The move, coming as bitcoin rises, has been noticed by other brands and retailers who are showing interest in joining in.

Stéphanie Cabossioras has stepped down from her role as the executive director of Binance France, becoming at least the 10th senior executive to leave Binance this year.

Binance France's general manager has decided to step down from her role after one year and six months, adding her name to the list of senior executives to leave the largest crypto exchange this year.

PARIS — Days before French police visited Binance's Paris office, the crypto exchange's top French executive dismissed concerns about U.S. regulatory charges impacting Binance's other operations, comparing them to the flapping of a butterfly's wings.

Crypto.com chooses Paris for European headquarters

In March, Binance gained licenses from Dubai and Bahrain.

After securing the right to offer its services in the French market, major crypto exchange Binance plans to hire up to 250 employees in France and hopes this new license will help expand in other markets too. 

Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has registered with France's market regulator, Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao said in a tweet on Wednesday, advancing the company's plan to make Paris its European base.