Bull Bitcoin has secured a MiCA license in France, clearing the way for users across the European Union to access its Bitcoin exchange and payment services without interruption. Founder Francis Pouliot announced the approval on June 23, 2026, via X, after nearly three years of self-financed regulatory work.
The license is significant because many crypto platforms have faced pressure to exit Europe or strip features under MiCA's tightening rules. Bull Bitcoin's approval suggests a different path is possible: the company kept its core model intact. Users supply their own wallet address before purchase, with Bitcoin sent directly to their control rather than held by the company. The exchange still supports Lightning Network, Liquid, and Payjoin privacy tools.
"We have proven that it is possible to meet the highest requirements of regulatory compliance without becoming overzealous," Pouliot said in his announcement. He emphasized that the company passed required PASSI and DORA cybersecurity audits without outsourcing its core Bitcoin infrastructure to third-party providers. Relying on external hosting would have been cheaper and simpler, he noted, but would have surrendered sovereignty.
We have proven that it is possible to meet the highest requirements of regulatory compliance without becoming overzealous,
Bull Bitcoin funded the entire process internally, taking no external capital. The Montreal-based firm, founded in 2013, operates as a Bitcoin-only, non-custodial exchange. Beyond the exchange, it offers Bitcoin bill payments for rent, utilities, and real estate. In October 2025, the company launched BULL Wallet, a global open-source mobile app for iOS and Android with integrated exchange access, Payjoin support, and no data collection or push notifications.
The approval does not resolve a key tension the newsroom noted in the company's announcement: how Bull Bitcoin squared user privacy expectations with MiCA's compliance obligations. The mechanism by which those two requirements coexist remains unexplained. Pouliot framed the outcome as proof that rigorous compliance and user-controlled infrastructure can coexist, but offered no detail on which MiCA requirements shifted, which features changed, or how privacy tooling survived intact under EU oversight.
The license provides a long-term regulatory foothold in Europe as the company expands its France-based team and eurozone services. Pouliot said next steps include global expansion. "Our ambition is global domination and setting a new standard on how to build the infrastructure Bitcoin deserves," he wrote.