CACEIS, the custody banking arm of Crédit Agricole, is in exclusive talks to acquire French crypto investment platform Meria, according to a BlockStories report.
Summary
- CACEIS is reportedly targeting Meria to expand beyond crypto custody into brokerage and staking services.
- Meria’s MiCA license gives the French platform stronger regulatory access across Europe’s crypto market.
- The talks show banks are buying crypto-native firms as MiCA raises compliance pressure across Europe.
The deal has not been formally announced by either company.
Meria, formerly known as Just Mining, was co-founded by Owen Simonin, known online as Hasheur. The company serves about 150,000 users and manages roughly €350 million in assets under management, according to the report. Its main services include crypto brokerage and staking products.
A bank push into crypto services
CACEIS already has a digital asset business line focused on custody. The company says its crypto services target asset managers, institutional investors, and other clients seeking regulated access to digital assets. Its parent group, Crédit Agricole, is one of France’s largest banking groups.
CACEIS also holds French and European crypto permissions. The AMF’s public record says CACEIS Bank has been authorized to provide crypto-asset services under MiCA through the Article 60 notification route. That allows the group to offer services such as custody, order reception, and transfer of crypto-assets.
Meria adds retail reach and staking
A Meria deal would give CACEIS access to a crypto-native platform with a retail user base and staking expertise. BlockStories reported that staking is one of the activities of interest to CACEIS, as Meria serves both retail and institutional clients in that area.
The reported talks come shortly after Meria received MiCA CASP authorization in France. A market intelligence listing shows Meria SAS as a France-based MiCA Crypto-Asset Service Provider authorized by the AMF on June 22. That timing gives the platform added value as Europe’s new licensing regime takes full effect.
MiCA changes the deal market
The talks reflect a wider shift in Europe’s crypto market. The MiCA transition period ended on July 1, forcing many crypto firms to secure CASP licenses or stop serving users under the old national regimes.
MiCA gives licensed firms a European passport, but it also raises compliance costs. As previously reported, France and other EU markets have seen a divide between firms that secured authorization and those still working through the process. That gap may push banks and larger regulated firms to buy licensed crypto platforms instead of building everything internally.
Banks move closer to regulated crypto
The reported Meria talks also fit a broader pattern of regulated finance moving into digital assets. As crypto.news reported, Coinbase opened its Luxembourg MiCA hub as the EU deadline approached. The exchange used Luxembourg as its base for serving customers across the bloc under one licensing setup.
Other firms have taken similar steps. As reported by crypto.news, Ripple moved closer to full MiCA compliance through Luxembourg CASP approval, while B2C2 secured MiCA approval to expand regulated crypto trading across Europe.
