Key takeaways
- France's National Assembly adopts amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget by 38 votes to 37, with 25 abstentions.
- Amendment I-3898 would tax gains from Bitcoin and crypto swaps into regulated stablecoins at France's 31.4% flat tax.
- Amendment I-2701 would require declaring self-custodial wallets worth €100,000 or more and remains under consideration in France.
France's National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget by 38 votes to 37, with 25 abstentions, making swaps from Bitcoin and crypto into regulated stablecoins a taxable sale from January 1, 2027. Gains on those swaps would be taxed at France's 31.4% flat tax even without converting to euros.
Nicolas Sansu of the GDR group is the lead author of amendment I-3898, and the French government opposed it, with Public Accounts Minister David Amiel speaking for the government. None of the measures is law yet, and the budget still has to pass further stages, including the Senate.
A Swap Tax Passed by One Vote
With 75 votes cast, 38 votes was exactly the majority amendment I-3898 needed to pass. The amendment covers swaps into electronic money tokens under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), meaning stablecoins pegged to a single official currency such as euro or dollar stablecoins.
The taxable gain would be the value of the stablecoins received minus what the holder paid for the coins given up. France's flat tax on capital gains rose from 30% to 31.4%, and that rate would apply to swap gains even without converting to euros.
Exit Tax and Wallet Reporting Still on the Table
The Assembly rejected a proposal to carry forward losses for ten years, by 18 votes to 75 with 3 abstentions.
Amendment I-CF1822 would extend the exit tax to unrealized gains for taxpayers with Bitcoin and crypto portfolios above €800,000 who move their residence abroad, and it remains under consideration. Amendment I-2701 would require declaring self-custodial wallets worth €100,000 or more, and it also remains under consideration.
The Assembly postponed its vote on the full revenue section of the budget, and none of the measures is law yet.
Why It Matters
France's National Assembly voted 38 to 37 to tax gains when holders swap Bitcoin and crypto into euro or dollar stablecoins, which turns a move between two assets into a taxable sale even without converting to euros and shows the state's incentive to tax every hop into its own fiat. We think amendment I-2701, which would require declaring self-custodial wallets worth €100,000 or more, is the bigger threat, because a registry of who holds keys is a surveillance map that invites seizure. Pair that with an exit tax on unrealized gains for holders who move abroad, and French Bitcoiners face a state that wants to tax, track and fence in their savings, which is why self-custody, privacy and the freedom to leave matter.
