• France has brought its JONUM regime into force, creating an active regulatory pathway for games that use monetisable digital objects.
• The framework runs as a three-year experiment and targets titles that sit between video gaming and regulated gambling.
• Players may acquire assets such as non-fungible tokens and other blockchain-based items that can be traded on secondary markets, but cash prizes like licensed gambling products are prohibited.
• Consumer safeguards include age and identity checks, a ban on minors, and responsible gambling style tools such as limits and self-exclusion.
• Operators must file a prior declaration with ANJ and provide transparency and monitoring access, including tracking where wallets or blockchain rails are used.

France has formally activated a new regulatory regime designed to bring oversight to games that incorporate monetisable digital objects, marking one of the most structured European attempts to deal with the legal grey zone between gaming monetisation and gambling-style risk.

The framework, known as Jeux à Objets Numériques Monétisables, or JONUM, is now operational under the supervision of the French gambling regulator Autorité Nationale des Jeux. The regime is set up as a three-year experimental model intended to cover games that include a paid stake and an element of chance, while allowing players to obtain digital assets that can later be resold, without offering winnings in legal tender.

JONUM was introduced into French law through the SREN Act, enacted in May 2024, and moved from statute into live supervision after implementing measures took effect in early February 2026. ANJ has confirmed the implementing decree entered into force on 7 February 2026, enabling operators to begin the process required to launch compliant titles.

At the core of the regime is a distinction between tradable digital items and gambling-style payouts. JONUM titles can allow players to acquire monetisable digital objects, including non-fungible tokens and other blockchain-based items, and those items may be traded on secondary markets. However, the framework forbids cash prizes that mirror regulated gambling products and also imposes limits designed to cap how rewards are distributed, including constraints on the value a single player may receive over time through digital assets.

Consumer protection requirements are a central feature of the model. Operators must verify age and identity at account creation, and minors are prohibited from participating. Operators must also provide player protection tools that echo those required in regulated gambling, including options for limits on play time and weekly spending, as well as self-exclusion functionality.

The compliance obligations extend beyond consumer tools into transparency and monitoring. Any operator seeking to offer a JONUM product in France must submit a declaration to ANJ before launch and maintain reporting that supports supervisory review, including activity logs. Where blockchain infrastructure or wallets are used, the operator must provide tracking access so ANJ can monitor flows for anti-money laundering and broader compliance purposes.

The French approach stands out in a European landscape where regulators have often relied on legacy gambling law to address adjacent mechanics, particularly loot boxes. Belgium has taken a strict stance, with its gambling regulator concluding that paid loot boxes can fall within national gambling law, which has led some publishers to remove the mechanic in that market rather than risk enforcement.

France is effectively trying to do what most jurisdictions avoid: define a bespoke category before market behaviour forces a court fight. By carving out a legal lane for games with tradable digital items while keeping cash winnings off limits, ANJ is acknowledging that resale value can create gambling-like incentives, even when the game avoids direct payouts.

The safeguards are not window dressing. Mandatory identity checks, exclusion of minors, and limit tools position JONUM closer to a controlled gambling adjacent regime than a light touch gaming code. The reporting and monitoring expectations also matter because they force operators to treat blockchain rails as auditable infrastructure, not a black box, which raises the compliance bar for studios that have been operating with minimal oversight.

For operators and investors, the opportunity is paired with a clear warning: product design will be scrutinised. If secondary market liquidity, reward mechanics, or operator influence over resale begin to resemble a cash-out loop, the distinction from gambling narrows fast. The three-year trial gives regulators time to watch real outcomes, and it gives compliant developers a first-mover route into France, but it also creates a template other European markets may borrow if consumer harm signals rise.