France Moves to Make Self-Custody Crypto Wallets Reportable Above €100K
France wants self-custody to become a reporting event. A proposed amendment would require anyone holding €100,000 or more in their own wallet to declare it to tax authorities — or pay a fine.
What the rule actually says
Lawmakers on the National Assembly's Finance Committee adopted amendment I-CF821 on Friday. It would add a provision to France's general tax code covering crypto not held by a crypto-asset service provider, which includes assets in personal wallets. Balances would be valued as of December 31, and failing to declare could cost up to €10,000.
Why the sponsors say it is needed
Backers frame it as an anti-evasion measure. They cite a parliamentary inquiry into wealth taxation that found crypto capital gains reached €3.5 billion in 2021, while only €400 million in crypto holdings were declared that year. Wallet disclosure was one of five crypto amendments the committee passed last week, alongside an exit tax above €800,000 and an end to tax deferrals on stablecoin conversions.
The backlash is about safety
Privacy advocates say a list of self-custody holders is a list of targets. Nym CEO Harry Halpin called the plan a terrible idea, pointing to a case where a French tax agent was accused of selling taxpayer data to criminals.
Zama founder Rand Hindi told holders that if they can leave France, they should. Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz objected to the scale of the data grab, saying the state wants to multiply by 50,000x the information it collects — and therefore leaks.
The fear is not abstract. Ledger co-founder David Balland was kidnapped from his home in 2025 and held for ransom. Earlier this year, the wife of The Sandbox co-founder Sébastien Borget survived an attempted kidnapping, and robbers posing as police forced a couple in Versailles to hand over $1 million in Bitcoin.
It is not law yet
The same committee that adopted the crypto amendments then rejected the budget bill's entire revenue section, 31 votes to 3. Debate in the full Assembly restarts from the government's original text, which contains none of them, so each amendment must be tabled again to survive.
Nothing changes today for anyone holding coins in France, but the direction is clear. If the provision comes back and passes, the question stops being how much tax you owe and becomes who gets to know where your keys live.