Axa Investment Managers was registered as a crypto services provider in France on 7 March, according to the website of regulator The Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).
According to reports, Axa is planning to tokenise financial services using blockchain technology rather than targeting decentralised cryptocurrencies.
A spokesperson for AXA Investment Managers told CoinDesk that "registration as a crypto service provider will be useful as we actively work on initiatives where blockchain technology can bring benefits to capital markets," citing tokenization of financial securities and an interest in central bank digital currencies and stablecoins.
"We don't have any investment strategy or exposure to cryptocurrencies" such as bitcoin or ether, the spokesperson added. "There is no plan at this stage to have any."
It will join Binance, Bitstamp and Societe Generale in passing governance and money laundering checks set by French law.
The wider Axa Group insurance company has 95 million clients in 50 countries.
Crypto providers are aiming to register with the authorities before new European Union (EU) laws take effect within the coming months.
Those already registered will be exempt from the strictures of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation for an extra period, and a newly passed French law means the domestic registration procedure will become tougher as of January 2024.
