France’s National Assembly is weighing a change that would apply the country’s 31.4% flat capital-gains rate to conversions into EU-regulated stablecoins, while leaving tokens such as USDT and DAI outside the tax’s reach. The finance committee’s amendment, adopted Oct. 7 as part of the 2027 budget, raises a pointed question: by taxing only the regulated corner of the stablecoin market, could France push trading into exactly the unregulated channels that the EU’s MiCA framework was built to shrink?
The amendment would end the deferral that currently lets investors swap bitcoin and other crypto assets for electronic money tokens — MiCA’s term for regulated stablecoins — without realizing a taxable gain. From Jan. 1, 2027, those conversions would be taxed the same way as cashing out into euros. The measure sits inside a wider package of crypto changes backed by the finance committee, including a requirement to declare self-hosted wallets holding at least €100,000 and an extension of France’s exit tax to crypto holdings worth roughly $900,000.
What the Amendment Would Change
Under current French rules, swapping one crypto asset for another is not a taxable event; the flat tax applies only when an investor converts holdings into fiat currency or spends them. The committee’s amendment closes the gap that let stablecoin conversions escape that tax. Its explanatory note argues the change “creates no new charge” and simply applies an existing tax to a case lawmakers had not anticipated, noting that the United Kingdom and Italy have already moved to treat stablecoins as currency for tax purposes.
At 31.4% — the flat-tax level in force since the start of 2026 — any crypto-to-stablecoin swap would become a taxable event, with the acquisition price of the stablecoins received fixed for later calculations.
The Asymmetry That Could Backfire
The problem is that the tax applies only to MiCA-compliant stablecoins. Chainalysis’s chief executive for France, Francois Volpoet, told CoinDesk the measure targets regulated electronic money tokens while leaving USDT, DAI and PAXG outside its scope, which he warned could push investors toward decentralized platforms, peer-to-peer trading and venues outside international reporting arrangements. “Do we want more taxpayers to declare their assets, or a higher tax rate applied to a base that is increasingly evaded?” he said.
The migration risk has precedent. Chainalysis points to a 2,727% jump in European EURC trading volumes between July 2024 and June 2025, against 86% for USDC, as evidence of how quickly activity moves after regulatory change, and it estimates France recorded $9.4 billion in taxable on-chain crypto activity in 2025, including $2.5 billion in gains. Cross-border stablecoin risks are already on regulators’ radar, with the Financial Stability Board flagging the same offshore-migration concern.
Not Law Yet — and the Safety Tradeoff
None of this is law. The finance committee rejected the revenue section of the government’s 2027 budget by 31 votes to 3, sending the crypto amendments back to the full National Assembly, which is scheduled to vote on the revenue section on Oct. 20. The budget itself has until Dec. 10 to pass, and every provision can still be amended or dropped.
There is also a safety dimension. Requiring taxpayers to declare self-hosted wallets holding at least €100,000 could expose holders to physical attack — a risk Chainalysis says is acute in France, which accounted for 33 of the 39 European “wrench attack” incidents recorded through July. The contrast with Greece, which is preparing a 10% capital-gains levy on crypto, shows how far apart EU member states remain even as MiCA reshapes the stablecoin market itself.
