fr/en
$ cat affiliation.md // radical transparency

Affiliations: visible, verifiable, optional.

Some links on this blog point to affiliate platforms. When a reader signs up through them, the blog earns a commission — at no extra cost. Every such link is flagged. No affiliate ever reviews, approves, or commissions an article.

6 active affiliations
+ 3 in pipeline
01

How it works here

/commitments
flag --always

Transparency

Every affiliate link wears a visible partner badge with an explanation on hover. You see it before the click, never after.

use --first

Relevance

I only feature platforms I'd use myself. A higher commission doesn't move a partner up the list — usefulness does.

refuse --review

Independence

No affiliate reads, validates, or commissions an article. I keep the right to publicly criticize a partner, on the very pages that link to them.

prefer --regulated

Compliance

For crypto platforms in France, I favour PSAN-registered actors. For brokers, supervised by a recognised authority. No gray-zone "opportunities".

02

Active affiliations

6 / 9
broker active

Bourse Direct

French online broker: PEA and taxable brokerage account, among the lowest fees on the FR market.

$ visit bourse direct → partner
broker active

BoursoBank

French online bank (formerly Boursorama): PEA, brokerage account and life insurance under one roof.

$ visit boursobank → partner
broker active

Fortuneo

French online bank: PEA, brokerage account and life insurance, no account-keeping fees.

$ visit fortuneo → partner
assurance-vie active

Linxea

French online broker specialised in life insurance and PER: low-fee contracts, broad unit-linked fund choice.

$ visit linxea → partner
/pipeline Pending / in discussion (3) ›
  • Bitstack exchange pending
  • Coinhouse exchange pending
  • Ledger hardware-wallet pending

Listed for transparency — none of these are currently endorsed or earning commission.

03

What I always decline

/refused.md

Some offers never get a partnership, regardless of the commission. Listed here once, so I don't have to debate it twice.

✗

Unregulated platforms

No PSAN, no equivalent license, no clear domicile — no link. The "exotic offshore exchange with a 50% commission" goes here.

✗

Leverage marketed to beginners

CFDs, futures, margin trading promoted as "easy money". The product can be legitimate; the marketing rarely is.

✗

"Guaranteed return" opportunities

Anything promising a fixed yield above a sovereign bond. If it sounds too good, the catch is somewhere — usually in your liquidity.

✗

Anything that smells like a scam, even faintly

The doubt is enough. I don't owe a partnership to anyone, but I do owe the reader the benefit of a careful filter.

04

Proposing an affiliation?

/contact

Write to contact@nicolas.finance with three things:

  1. Platform / product — what it is, regulatory status, target user.
  2. Program — commission structure, terms, payment.
  3. Why — what about it actually helps a reader of this blog.

I read every proposal. I reply when I'm interested — silence means no.

$ propose → /about