French lawmakers have advanced a proposal that would require cryptocurrency holders to report self-custody wallet holdings equal to or above €100,000 ($112,000), or face fines up to €10,000 ($11,000).
The French National Assembly's Finance Committee adopted amendment I-CF821 on Friday. The provision would be added to France's general tax code and would require crypto users to declare holdings based on the value at the end of the calendar year. In a self-custody wallet, the owner holds private keys that allow them to fully control the assets inside, in contrast to centralized exchanges.
The proposal aims to fight cryptocurrency use as a vector for fraud, citing concerns that crypto ownership is underestimated. However, it remains subject to change and is not yet law.
Security Concerns Mount
Crypto holders have voiced concerns that the reporting requirement threatens personal security. Harry Halpin, CEO of privacy infrastructure firm Nym, cited a recent case in which a French tax agent was accused of selling data from the French tax authority to criminals. "This is a terrible idea as corrupt employees in the French tax authority have already shown themselves to be a danger to their own citizens," Halpin told Decrypt.
Rand Hindi, founder of privacy protocol Zama, tweeted: "If you live in France and hold crypto, leave. If you can't leave, hire personal security for you and your family."
Rising Trend of Crypto Crimes in France
France has seen multiple high-profile crypto-related crimes in recent years. In 2025, Ledger co-founder David Balland and his wife were kidnapped from their home and held for ransom in what is known as a wrench attack, during which one of Balland's fingers was severed. Earlier this year, the wife of Sébastien Borget, The Sandbox co-founder, was the victim of an attempted kidnapping at her home in Villenoy, Seine-et-Marne. Additionally, a couple in their late 50s were forced to transfer $1 million in Bitcoin at knifepoint by robbers posing as police in Versailles earlier this year.
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Solana-based infrastructure firm Helius, tweeted: "France is the leading country on the planet for crypto kidnappings and wrench attacks. Now they want to increase by 50,000x the amount of data they collect and hence leak."
Other Crypto Measures and Legislative Status
The committee also voted to treat swaps from crypto into stablecoins as taxable sales from January 2027 and to extend France's exit tax to crypto held by households worth more than €800,000.
However, the committee rejected the budget's entire revenue section, 31 votes to 3. When floor debate resumes on Monday, the full National Assembly will start from the government's original text, which does not include any of the crypto amendments. If lawmakers wish to include them, they will need to table them again.
