France Votes 38-37 to Tax Crypto-to-Stablecoin Swaps at 31.4% From 2027

One Vote Puts Stablecoin Swaps in France’s Tax Net

France’s National Assembly has narrowly approved a measure that could change how French crypto investors manage their portfolios. Amendment I-3898, added to the 2027 budget bill on Friday, would make swapping crypto into certain stablecoins a taxable event from January 1, 2027.

The margin could not have been thinner. The amendment passed 38 to 37, with 25 abstentions, and only 100 of the Assembly’s 577 deputies participated, according to Bitcoin.com News. The measure is not law yet, but it has cleared its first full vote in the chamber.

What the Amendment Would Change

Deputy Nicolas Sansu of the left-wing GDR group filed the proposal, backed by 16 co-signers. It targets swaps into electronic money tokens, the category of fiat-backed stablecoins defined under the EU’s MiCA rules.

France would tax gains on those swaps at its flat capital gains rate, which rose to 31.4% on January 1 this year: 12.8% income tax plus 18.6% in social contributions. The tax would apply to the profit, not the full amount swapped.

Supporters argue that a fiat-linked stablecoin works much like cash. In their view, moving from Bitcoin into a digital euro or dollar should be treated the same as cashing out, and taxing it “does not create any new burden.”

How Tax Deferral Works Today

Here is the mechanism at the heart of the debate. Under current French rules, swapping one crypto asset for another without cash involved does not trigger capital gains tax. The tax bill is deferred until the investor converts to ordinary currency or spends the proceeds.

In practice, that lets traders sell a volatile coin for a stablecoin at a profit, sit out a downturn, and buy back in later, all without a taxable event. Only the final exit to a bank account counts. The amendment would end that for regulated stablecoins.

It would also change how gains are measured. Profit would equal the sale price minus the purchase price, and where identical assets were bought at different prices, a weighted average purchase price would apply. For holdings bought before 2027, investors could either use documented prices or spread their total portfolio cost as of December 31, 2026, across their assets by value.

Why the Government Wants It Withdrawn

The government opposed the measure on the floor. Public Action and Accounts Minister David Amiel said lawmakers still had to define which tokens qualify and how portfolio moves would be tracked, describing the work as complex and in need of further study.

That opposition matters. French media reports suggest the government could strip the amendment out later in the process, and the Senate may still amend or reject it. The budget must pass by December 10, and the Assembly is due to vote on the first part of the 2027 Finance Bill on Tuesday, October 20.

Chainalysis Warns of an Offshore Exodus

Industry voices have pushed back. Francois Volpoet, Chainalysis’s regional sales director for France, told CoinDesk that the tax could drive traders toward “unmonitored offshore channels,” including DeFi platforms, peer-to-peer trading and exchanges outside international reporting rules.

He also flagged a loophole in the design itself. Because the measure covers only MiCA-compliant tokens, other stablecoins may fall outside it, which could push activity toward less regulated assets rather than away from them. Chainalysis estimates France saw $9.4 billion in taxable on-chain crypto activity in 2025, including $2.5 billion in gains.

That would be an awkward outcome for Europe’s regulated stablecoins, which have been gaining ground since MiCA took effect. Major players such as Revolut, which launched its EURR euro stablecoin in August, are betting on exactly the tokens this tax would cover.

Wallet Reporting and Exit Taxes Still on the Table

The stablecoin vote is only one part of a wider push. As reported by Cointelegraph, lawmakers are still weighing a requirement to declare self-custodial wallets worth more than €100,000 and an extension of the exit tax to unrealized gains for people with crypto portfolios above €800,000 who move abroad.

Not every proposal survived. The Assembly rejected a plan to let investors carry forward crypto losses for 10 years, by a vote of 75 to 18. Volpoet has warned that wallet disclosures could create security risks, citing 30 violent attacks on crypto holders in France in the first half of 2026.

What French Investors Could Face Next Year

If the amendment survives, active traders would face immediate practical effects. Anyone who regularly moves into stablecoins to lock in gains, rather than selling crypto for euros, could owe tax at each step. Investors watching crypto market prices for a re-entry point would no longer have a tax-free waiting room.

Analysts suggest the change may slow stablecoin use in France, as holders lose a tool for managing volatility. Some may simply hold longer, while others could move to unregulated tokens or offshore venues, the exact behaviour Chainalysis has flagged.

A Test of How Europe Treats Digital Cash

The deeper question is whether a stablecoin is cash or crypto. MiCA was designed to make euro and dollar tokens behave like regulated money, and the amendment’s backers are taking that logic to its tax conclusion. If it is money, leaving crypto for it looks like cashing out.

The vote also shows how fragile that consensus is. The government-backed measure passed with fewer than a fifth of deputies present, and it could be reversed within weeks. Whatever the Senate decides, France has put a clear question to every European regulator: once stablecoins are treated like money, should they also be taxed like money?