France proposes mandatory declaration of self-custody crypto wallets from €100,000: what the amendment says and why it is risky

What the amendment says

Amendment I-CF821 was filed by deputies Charles de Courson, Jean-Pierre Bataille and Michel Castellani of the groupe LIOT (Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories). It adds a new obligation to France's General Tax Code (Code général des impôts):

• to report to the tax office any crypto assets a person holds directly, with no intermediary: on a hardware device, in a software wallet, anywhere only they have the keys;
• the threshold is €100,000 or more, valued as of December 31;
• failing to report carries a fine of up to €10,000.

The amendment contains no ban. It does not require moving coins to a licensed custodian and does not restrict self-custody itself. Where the coins in the wallet came from makes no difference: a trading platform, another person or a crypto exchange without registration.

The authors present the amendment as a way to fight tax evasion. They cite a parliamentary inquiry into the taxes of wealthy people: in 2021 French residents made €3.5 billion in crypto gains and declared €400 million in assets. The comparison is loose, because gains from sales and the value of holdings are calculated differently, but the whole argument rests on it.

The idea is not new. An earlier version with a €5,000 threshold made it to the joint committee of both chambers (commission mixte paritaire) and was struck out there in April. The threshold is now twenty times higher.

Where the amendment stands

Its path has been a winding one:

1. On October 9, the National Assembly's Finance Committee approved the amendment. That same evening it rejected the entire revenue part of the budget: 31 votes against, 3 in favor, 2 abstentions.
2. On October 13, the debate opens on the floor, starting from the government's original text. According to Journal du Coin, the crypto amendments approved by the committee have been filed again and will be voted on once more.
3. The debate on revenue runs until October 19, and the formal vote on it is set for October 20.
4. On November 17, the National Assembly votes on the budget as a whole, and then the text goes to the Senate.
5. On December 10, the 70 days given to parliament run out. After that, the government may put the budget into effect by its own act.

There is also a shortcut. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu pushed the previous budget through on February 2, 2026 under Article 49.3 of the constitution, without a vote. Under that procedure, the government itself decides which amendments to keep.

What else deputies are proposing

In the same week the committee approved five crypto amendments. Besides the wallet declaration, they are:

All of them are in the same position as I-CF821: the committee approved them, but the text they belonged to has been rejected.

Why a list of wallets becomes a security issue

The tax office already has plenty of data. The DAC8 directive has applied in the EU since January 1, 2026: crypto platforms collect customers' names, tax identification numbers and transaction records, and the first exchange of this data between countries is due by September 30, 2027. In September, France's Council of State (Conseil d'État) rejected an urgent appeal by Bull Bitcoin and Paymium against the French decree on DAC8. Bull Bitcoin's argument was precisely about security: customers' personal data ends up gathered in one place.

Declaring self-custody wallets goes further. DAC8 covers the customers of platforms. The new obligation would produce a list of people who personally hold the keys to €100,000 or more. Coins on an exchange are guarded by the exchange. Coins in your own wallet are guarded only by their owner, usually at home.

For France this is no abstract fear. In October, Cointelegraph called the country the most dangerous place in the world for bitcoin holders: 90 attacks in seven months. Summaries of the amendment do not say how the tax office would store such declarations or who would get access to them. According to French media analysis, the text does not describe how a wallet is to be valued either.

How it compares with other countries

Governments are heading in different directions:

• Spain: coins in your own wallet are not reported on Modelo 721, and we covered the Modelo 721 rules for self-custody wallets;
• Brazil: since October 1, services tell the financial intelligence unit about transfers of $10,000 or more to personal wallets;
• United States: on October 5, FinCEN withdrew its rules on unhosted wallets and mixers.

The French amendment is closer to the Brazilian approach but works differently. In Brazil the service does the reporting, and only for a large transfer. In France the owner would have to report, and on everything held in the wallet.

What wallet owners in France should do

Nothing has changed so far: the amendment has not been adopted, and there is no obligation to declare a self-custody wallet. But three things are useful whatever the outcome of the vote.

First. Watch October 20 and the Senate. The threshold, the fine and the amendment itself can still change or disappear.

Second. Keep records of your purchases: dates, amounts, prices. You need them for capital gains tax already, and a wallet declaration would make them even more necessary.

Third. Do not talk about the size of your holdings, and keep your seed phrase where no outsider will find it. Our guide on how to store a seed phrase explains how.

And one clarification, so there are no illusions. A privacy coin does not exempt you from the declaration. Summaries of the amendment refer to the value of crypto assets in a self-custody wallet, not to whether they are visible on the blockchain.

How to exchange bitcoin to Monero without registration

On-chain privacy protects you from prying eyes, not from the tax office. A bitcoin address you once showed to someone reveals your balance and transfer history to anyone who knows how to use a block explorer. With Monero, amounts and addresses are not visible on the blockchain, so nobody can look into the wallet from outside.

On VertEXchange, this exchange works without an account, email or phone number. You paste your wallet address, see the rate and the amount before you send anything, and the coins go straight to your address: VertEXchange does not store them.

• The fixed rate holds for about 15 minutes while the transfer is being confirmed.
• You can set a refund address: the coins go back there if the exchange does not go through.
• Personal fields of the transaction are deleted 24 hours after it is completed.
• A support chat is on every page, and questions are handled by exchange code.

The shortest way to a privacy coin is to exchange bitcoin to Monero without registration in a single transfer. If you prefer Zcash, there is a pair where you can buy ZEC with bitcoin and receive it at your own address. What exactly Monero hides and where that protection ends is covered in our article on whether Monero can be traced.

FAQ

Do I have to declare my crypto wallet in France right now?

No. As of October 13, 2026, amendment I-CF821 has not been adopted: the committee approved it, but the revenue part of the budget was rejected, and the amendment will be voted on again.

What is the threshold for declaring a self-custody wallet?

From €100,000, valued as of December 31. The earlier version with a €5,000 threshold was dropped in April.

What is the fine for not declaring a wallet?

Up to €10,000.

Does the amendment ban self-custody of crypto?

No. It introduces an obligation to report such assets, but it does not restrict self-custody and does not require moving coins to an intermediary.

When will the amendment be decided?

The formal vote on the revenue part of the budget is set for October 20, and then the Senate will examine the text. Parliament's deadline expires on December 10.

Does the amendment apply to Monero and Zcash?

Summaries of the amendment make no distinction between coins: they refer to the value of crypto assets in a self-custody wallet. On-chain privacy does not affect the obligation to report.