France is tightening supervision over cryptocurrency users, aiming to gain greater control and transparency over cryptocurrency transactions.
On July 17, Jean-Noël Barrot, France's Minister for European and Foreign Affairs, presented Bill No. 921 in the Senate. The bill aims to implement a multilateral agreement ensuring the automatic exchange of information under the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The bill seeks to anchor the CARF framework into French law, enabling the exchange of specific cryptocurrency information with 48 countries that have also joined the agreement signed in Paraguay in November 2024.
The data exchange will include information on specific transactions, user names, addresses, taxpayer identification numbers, places of residence, as well as the aggregate value of operations carried out during the reporting period.
The bill will allow France to expand the automatic exchange of cryptocurrency information internationally, especially as EU countries are already preparing to exchange this data in accordance with the DAC-8 directive, which comes into force on September 30, 2027.
If the bill is approved, the French government's data collection activities will accelerate at a time when the majority of so-called 'wrench attacks,' involving violence related to cryptocurrency thefts, occur precisely in France.
According to the latest report by Chainalysis, as of 2026, French authorities recorded 30 publicly known incidents, though the organization acknowledges the actual number may be higher. The report explains that the surge in such incidents is linked to a French tax official from Paris and surrounding areas allegedly selling data on wealthy French cryptocurrency holders.
The rise in these incidents and increasingly aggressive data collection methods have alarmed French cryptocurrency holders, who are now becoming targets for kidnappings and home invasion robberies.
Earlier this year, a directive obliging cryptocurrency users to report their self-custodied assets to tax authorities was repealed. Lawmakers opposed the measure as verifying the authenticity of such reports would have been impossible.
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