Moving your crypto to your own wallet may no longer be “invisible” in France.
On November 3, the French National Assembly approved amendment No. I-2701 (proposed by Charles de Courson) in the first reading of the 2027 budget bill, with 150 votes in favor, 44 against, and 8 abstentions.
The key points are just three:
1) Self-custodied crypto-assets (hardware wallets such as Ledger or Trezor, or software wallets where you control the private keys): if their total value as of December 31 each year reaches or exceeds €100,000, they must be declared to the tax authorities;
2) Multiple wallets are counted together, not separately;
3) Failure to declare: a fine of up to €10,000.
Note: this is a declaration of holdings, not a new tax. Under current French rules, crypto-to-crypto exchanges can be tax-deferred; tax is due only when crypto is converted into euros or used to make a purchase. This amendment adds self-custody to the existing requirement to declare accounts on foreign platforms. The proposal’s rationale is quite explicit: in 2021, realized gains from crypto assets totaled around €3.5 billion, but holdings declared to the tax authorities that same year amounted to only around €400 million.
A few things are still undecided:
- It is not yet law. The budget revenue section must pass as a whole. The National Assembly’s first reading must conclude by November 17, the Senate begins its review on November 20, and the bill may then go to a joint committee;
- It is unclear what exactly the declaration will require. French bitcoin-related organizations are already concerned that people may eventually be asked to submit wallet addresses, which would link identities to on-chain histories;
- Another amendment, which would have exempted crypto payments of up to €1,000 from tax, was rejected by 69 votes to 14.
My take: for ordinary people holding $BTC $ETH , the €100,000 threshold is not especially low; but centrally recording “who has how much in their cold wallet” creates a new security risk in itself. It’s worth watching how the Senate revises this.
Sources: Official National Assembly page for amendment I-2701; Cointelegraph (November 4). This is not investment advice.