The world’s largest crypto exchange Binance is trying to woo France

Crypto giant Binance is bolstering its presence in France after a choppy year of regulatory scrutiny.

The world's largest cryptocurrency exchange is financing a 100 million euro ($113 million) initiative with industry group France FinTech in an effort to support the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector in France.

The initiative, announced in November and dubbed Objective Moon, will see Binance establish a research and development office in France and collaborate on an incubator program for start-ups and training programs.

"The aim of Objective Moon is really to develop an ecosystem and to nurture and accelerate an ecosystem. You cannot do it alone," David Princay, Binance's French GM, told CNBC.

"We need to be also able to capture the talent and to have more capabilities to grow bigger," he said of plans to open an R&D office. "Having an R&D center is one step that we need to go for our next evolution."

Ledger, the French crypto hardware firm recently valued at $1.5 billion, and edtech company OpenClassroom are also involved in Objective Moon on developing educational programs.

France may prove to be fertile ground for the initiative given its growing fintech scene. According to figures from Dealroom, fintech investments in France have ballooned this year with bumper funding rounds for the likes of Lydia and Qonto. $Binance Coin(BNB.CC)$ $Bitcoin(BTC.CC)$ $Ethereum(ETH.CC)$