Flowdesk, the Paris-based crypto market maker and liquidity provider, said on 15 October 2026 that its EU entity, Flowdesk Europe, has been authorised as a payment institution by France’s ACPR under PSD2, allowing it to provide custody and transfer services for e-money tokens, the fiat-referenced stablecoins regulated under MiCA, to clients across the European Union. Fintechbits notes that the European Banking Authority advised national regulators to require this PSD2 authorisation from crypto firms that hold and transfer e-money tokens for clients from 2 March 2026, so the Flowdesk Europe licence arrives about seven months after that date, and the release does not say how Flowdesk handled those services in between. Flowdesk Europe received its MiCA crypto-asset service provider authorisation from the AMF at the end of June 2026, according to the Flowdesk release on BusinessWire.

What the Flowdesk Europe authorisation covers

The ACPR authorisation makes Flowdesk Europe a payment institution under the second Payment Services Directive. In practice it lets Flowdesk hold e-money tokens for clients and move them on their behalf across the EU. E-money tokens are the category MiCA uses for stablecoins that reference a single official currency, such as euro or dollar stablecoins. Fintechbits sets out how those categories differ in its stablecoin explainer.

With both licences, Flowdesk Europe says it can serve EU clients across trading, custody and transfer of crypto-assets and e-money tokens under one regulated entity. Guilhem Chaumont, Flowdesk’s co-founder and chief executive, said clients “increasingly use stablecoins to move value” and expect high regulatory standards across all of their activity.

Flowdesk has more than 200 employees, offices including Paris and Dubai, and backers including BlackRock, Cathay Innovation and Coinbase Ventures. It says it covers more than 150 exchanges around the clock.

The EBA rule behind the Flowdesk Europe licence

The reason a MiCA-licensed firm needs a second licence comes from the overlap between two EU laws. In a No Action letter published on 10 June 2025, the European Banking Authority advised national regulators to treat the custody and transfer of e-money tokens on behalf of clients as payment services under PSD2. It told them to require PSD2 authorisation for those services only from 2 March 2026, and to use streamlined procedures that reuse information from the MiCA application.

The EBA also told regulators not to treat exchanging crypto for funds, or crypto for other crypto, as payment services. That split explains the Flowdesk Europe licence stack: trading and exchange sit under MiCA, while holding and moving stablecoins for clients also needs PSD2.

The EBA was open about its discomfort. It asked EU lawmakers to avoid dual authorisation in the long term, which points to the PSD3 and Payment Services Regulation rewrite, and said it did not consider a MiCA licence alone sufficient to address the risks of e-money token transactions.

Fintechbits analysis

Why the Flowdesk Europe licence matters to token issuers

The Flowdesk Europe licence is paperwork with a commercial payoff. Flowdesk’s main clients are token issuers and exchanges that need liquidity, and more of that liquidity now settles in stablecoins. A market maker that can also hold and transfer euro and dollar stablecoins for those clients under EU licences is a simpler counterparty than one that hands settlement to a third party.

It also follows a pattern Fintechbits has been tracking. YouHodler’s Italian MiCA licence, announced on 13 October, covered five services but not lending. Licences in the EU crypto market are increasingly granted service by service, and the gaps between them are where firms take regulatory risk.

That is why the timing gap matters. The EBA set 2 March 2026 as the date from which national regulators should require PSD2 authorisation for e-money token custody and transfers. Flowdesk’s authorisation arrives about seven months later. The release does not say whether Flowdesk stopped offering those services in the meantime, routed them through a licensed partner, or relied on a pending application. Any of those may be fine. But clients and token issuers choosing a counterparty should ask, and the release would have been stronger for answering.

Frequently asked questions

What licence did Flowdesk Europe receive?

France’s ACPR authorised Flowdesk Europe as a payment institution under PSD2. The licence lets it provide custody and transfer services for e-money tokens to clients across the EU, alongside its existing MiCA authorisation from the AMF.

Why does a MiCA-licensed crypto firm need a PSD2 licence too?

The European Banking Authority advised that holding and transferring e-money tokens for clients counts as a payment service under PSD2. Firms doing that need a PSD2 authorisation as well as their MiCA licence.

Why does the timing matter?

Fintechbits notes that the EBA advised regulators to require this authorisation from 2 March 2026, and Flowdesk Europe’s licence arrived about seven months later. The release does not say how Flowdesk handled e-money token custody and transfers during that gap.

What to Watch Next

The policy question to watch is whether PSD3 and the Payment Services Regulation remove the dual-licence requirement, as the EBA asked. If they do, the Flowdesk Europe PSD2 licence becomes a transitional asset. The commercial marker is whether Flowdesk names token issuers or exchanges using its EU stablecoin custody and settlement, which it may publish on its own site.