French Crypto Executive Trio Proposes Crypto-to-Stablecoin Exchange Tax
A proposal to develop a new crypto taxation regime has surged in France, prompting criticism from the native crypto crowd.
Jean Meyer, CEO of Deblock, Damien Patureaux, co-founder of Lyzi, and Pierre Morizot, CEO of Waltio, three executives from crypto-linked companies, have proposed taking crypto taxation to a lower level in France by directly taxing conversions from crypto assets to stablecoins.
In an article titled “France has six months not to miss the next industrial wave of agentic AI,” the executives stated that “a French holder who converts his bitcoins into [stablecoin] does not trigger any taxation.” Furthermore, they explained that such a particularity did not convey any competitive advantage and constituted a “fiscal singularity that is paid for in missed revenue and unbuilt infrastructure. “
When asked about the basis of this proposal, Patureaux and Meyer presented a point of view that resonates with their companies, which provide electronic payment solutions that support crypto and stablecoins. For Patureaux, this measure would simplify crypto payments for users and entice wider adoption of crypto payments at the merchant level.
“When paying in crypto, customers ask merchants a lot of questions about taxation. We find ourselves doing after-sales service for the merchant’s customer instead of making sales,” he told Cryptoast.
Meyer proposed abandoning taxation of crypto capital gains in exchange for crypto-to-stablecoin exchanges, while keeping the exemption on crypto-to-crypto transactions, shifting the tax calculation complexity to users and exchanges.
Morizot, who helms a tax software company, stressed that “the non-taxation of crypto/stablecoin transactions is a sword of Damocles.” The proposal would prompt a boom in the tax statements of individuals.
This would prompt higher tax collection from crypto holders alongside the implementation of DAC8, a crypto data-sharing initiative across EU countries subscribed to by France, which is being expanded to more countries. Chainalysis estimates that over 90% of France’s crypto gains go undeclared, considering 2025 data.
Claire Balva, General Director of the Association for the Development of Digital Assets (ADAN), stressed that taxation can only happen at a fiat conversion level, as taxes can only be paid in euros, not in bitcoin or stablecoins.
For Balva, the implementation of such a measure would push users to make exchanges to stablecoins that are unregulated in the EU, like USDT. Nonetheless, Balva explained that this is still just a proposal and that no changes to the current tax regime are expected to be passed.
