France Considers 31.4% Tax on Swaps Into MiCA-Regulated Stablecoins

French lawmakers are considering taxing swaps from cryptocurrencies into regulated stablecoins at the country’s 31.4% capital gains rate starting January 1, 2027 — a move blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis warns could drive crypto activity offshore.

What the Proposal Would Do

An amendment adopted by the National Assembly’s finance committee on October 7 would make it a taxable event when investors exchange cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin for stablecoins classified as electronic money tokens under the EU’s MiCA regulation, which came into full force on July 1.

Currently, swapping one crypto for another generally does not trigger capital gains tax in France — only cashing out or spending holdings does. The change would close that gap for swaps into a specific category of EU-regulated stablecoins.

The proposal is part of France’s 2027 budget, which lawmakers began debating last week and have until December 10 to pass. It also includes extending the exit tax to large crypto holdings and allowing losses to be carried forward for 10 years. The amendment must still be resubmitted to the full National Assembly.

The Pushback

Francois Volpoet, Chainalysis’ regional sales director for France, warned the measure could undermine efforts to bring more crypto transactions into the regulated financial system. He said the proposed tax could push investors toward DeFi platforms, peer-to-peer trading, and exchanges outside international tax-reporting arrangements.

The distinction in the proposal is critical: it targets MiCA-compliant stablecoins but may leave other tokens outside its scope, potentially incentivizing traders to use less-regulated alternatives — the opposite of what European policymakers intended.

Source: CoinDesk