The French National Assembly's Finance Committee adopted amendment I-CF821 on Friday to introduce reporting requirements for crypto assets held in self-custody wallets. The proposal would require holders to declare assets worth at least €100,000 ($112,000), based on their value at the end of the calendar year. Individuals who failed to comply would face fines of up to €10,000 ($11,000). The proposal would add the requirement to France's general tax code. The proposed rule is not law and remains subject to change.
The Finance Committee subsequently rejected the budget's entire revenue section by 31 votes to 3. The full National Assembly will resume floor debate on Monday using the government's original text, which excludes all the crypto amendments. Lawmakers must table the amendments again to restore them. The committee also voted last week to treat conversions from crypto into stablecoins as taxable sales from January 2027. The committee also voted to extend France's exit tax to crypto held by households worth more than €800,000.
The reporting amendment says the requirement aims to combat the use of cryptocurrency for fraud. The amendment claims that crypto ownership is underestimated. Owners of self-custody wallets hold private keys that allow the owners to control the assets fully.
Some crypto holders claim the proposed reporting requirement threatens personal security after several high-profile crypto robberies and kidnappings in France. Nym CEO Harry Halpin called the proposal a terrible idea, citing a recent case involving a French tax agent accused of selling tax-authority data to criminals. Halpin said France should be held accountable to victims of crypto kidnappings. Halpin said criminals will use blockchain analytics and other artificial intelligence surveillance in the future. Halpin argued that shielded cryptocurrencies such as Zcash and genuinely private VPNs are the only solution for protecting data and cryptocurrency.
Zama founder Rand Hindi urged crypto holders living in France to leave the country. Hindi advised crypto holders unable to leave to hire personal security for themselves and their families. Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz claimed that France leads the world in crypto kidnappings and attacks involving physical coercion. Mumtaz claimed that the authorities want to increase the amount of data collected, and consequently leaked, by 50,000 times.
France has emerged as a hotspot for crypto robberies in recent years, contributing to holders' apprehension about declaring assets. Attackers kidnapped Ledger co-founder David Balland and Balland's wife from their home in 2025 and held the couple for ransom. The attackers severed one of Balland's fingers. The wife of The Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget faced an attempted kidnapping at her home in Villenoy, Seine-et-Marne, earlier this year. Robbers pretending to be police forced a couple in their late 50s to transfer $1 million in Bitcoin at knifepoint in Versailles earlier this year.