Crédit Agricole's CACEIS eyes Meria acquisition and crypto trading launch

CACEIS, the custodial arm of France's Crédit Agricole group, is in exclusive negotiations to acquire Meria, a French cryptocurrency investment platform. No financial terms have been disclosed. Both CACEIS and Meria hold MiCA licences granted by the French financial regulator, enabling them to operate within the EU's new crypto‑asset framework. The deal would give Crédit Agricole direct exposure to the crypto market through an established, regulated platform.

Separately, Crédit Agricole plans to roll out a crypto‑trading and custody service before the end of the year. The service will initially run on an external application and will be offered gradually to clients of LCL, BforBank and Crédit Agricole. The launch follows BPCE's debut of a similar offering and will leverage the MiCA licence held by CACEIS. The bank is recruiting talent and considering further acquisitions to accelerate its crypto capabilities.