France’s National Assembly has approved, by a single vote, a budget amendment that would make certain cryptocurrency-to-stablecoin swaps taxable from 2027. The measure passed after 38 deputies voted in favor, 37 voted against and 25 abstained, meaning it cleared the required majority among the 75 votes cast.
The proposal is not yet law. It must still go through the remainder of the budget process, including a vote on the full revenue section and consideration by the Senate.
What the amendment would change
Under France’s current rules, moving from one cryptocurrency to another generally does not create an immediate tax bill when no euros are received. Tax is normally due when digital assets are converted into traditional currency or used for spending.
Amendment I-3898 would create an exception for swaps ending in a MiCA-regulated stablecoin. Stablecoins are cryptoassets designed to maintain a value linked to an official currency, and the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework includes electronic money tokens tied to a single official currency.
If enacted, the change would apply from January 1, 2027. A swap into one of these stablecoins would be treated as a sale. The taxable gain would be calculated by taking the value of the stablecoins received and subtracting the acquisition cost of the cryptocurrency given up.
The gain would be subject to France’s flat tax. That rate is currently 31.4%, following an increase in social charges on capital income from 17.2% to 18.6% under France’s 2026 social security financing law.
The amendment would also alter how acquisition costs are determined. Rather than using one cost figure for an investor’s entire portfolio, each cryptocurrency sold would have its own purchase price. Where the same asset was acquired several times, the cost would be averaged.
For assets purchased before 2027, holders would have to make a one-time, irrevocable choice. They could either document the actual cost of each asset or allocate the portfolio’s total cost across the assets held on December 31, 2026.
Why lawmakers backed the measure
The amendment was led by Nicolas Sansu of the left-wing GDR group. Its supporters argue that stablecoins are not merely temporary holding instruments. They can be used to pay crypto service providers or purchase other tokens, making them, in the lawmakers’ view, conventional investment vehicles in some circumstances.
Supporters said the existing rules allow gains to be moved into stablecoins without triggering the flat tax, describing that outcome as a gap in the legislation. They also pointed to the United Kingdom and Italy as countries that have already adopted rules along similar lines.
The government opposed the amendment. Public Accounts Minister David Amiel called for it to be withdrawn, arguing that stablecoins first required a legal definition and that authorities needed a way to trace reallocations within investment portfolios.
The vote was unusually narrow. Only 100 deputies took part: 38 supported the amendment, 37 rejected it and 25 abstained. Because 75 votes were cast for or against the proposal, the 38 votes in favor represented exactly the majority needed for passage. Decrypt reported the result based on the National Assembly’s voting record.
Wider French crypto proposals
The stablecoin amendment had previously received support from the Assembly’s finance committee earlier in the month. The committee also backed a proposal from Sansu to extend France’s exit tax to cryptoassets held by households with a value above €800,000. However, the committee later rejected the budget’s entire revenue section by 31 votes to 3. That sent debate back to the government’s original text and required the stablecoin measure to be presented again on the Assembly floor.
Another proposal would require holders to declare self-custodied crypto worth at least €100,000 at the end of the year. The proposal includes fines of up to €10,000 for failing to report. It has faced opposition from people in the crypto industry, who say gathering such information could increase security risks. Their concerns come against the backdrop of several crypto-related kidnappings in France, including the 2025 abduction and mutilation of Ledger co-founder David Balland.
None of these measures has become law. The Assembly is due to vote on the full revenue section on Tuesday, after which the budget would move to the Senate.
Current market picture
Moneyiar market data at the stated times showed mixed performance among the listed assets:
- JUST (JST): $0.1407081765, down 0.05% over 24 hours and up 0.09% over seven days, as of October 21, 2026, at 11:08 a.m. +03:30.
- Stable (STABLE): $0.0270211272, up 7% over 24 hours and 1.4% over seven days, as of October 21, 2026, at 11:09 a.m. +03:30.
- AKEDO (AKE): $0.036089134, up 19.33% over 24 hours and 44.72% over seven days, as of October 21, 2026, at 11:09 a.m. +03:30.
- would (WOULD): $0.0351412837, up 0.33% over 24 hours and 10.6% over seven days, as of September 22, 2026, at 9:04 p.m. +03:30.
These market figures are separate from the French legislative process and do not indicate how the proposed tax rules will develop.
