France's National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 on 16 October by 38 votes to 37, with 25 abstentions. The amendment ends, from 1 January 2027, the tax deferral on swaps of crypto into stablecoins classed as e-money tokens under MiCA, which would be taxed at 31.4%. It also introduces a per-asset cost basis. The provision still has to clear the rest of the budget process, and the government had opposed it.

What it means: Today in France, as in other countries, swapping one crypto asset for another is not taxed immediately, and tax is paid when the investor cashes out into euros. Stablecoins exploited that gap: someone could lock in gains by moving into a token that is essentially electronic money in euros or dollars, without paying tax. The amendment treats MiCA stablecoins as equivalent to currency, which makes legal sense since they are regulated e-money. The switch to a per-asset cost basis, instead of the portfolio-wide formula, will make returns more complex for investors who trade a lot. The very narrow margin and the government's opposition show the provision could be changed or dropped later. If it stands, it may encourage the use of non-European stablecoins or moving to platforms outside France, the opposite of MiCA's aim. For Greece, where crypto taxation still lacks a clear dedicated framework, the French debate is a useful reference point for how stablecoin swaps might be treated.

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