France has backed down on the mandatory declaration of self-hosted wallets, and it is a clear victory for Bitcoin defenders. On April 28, 2026, the joint committee did not take up article 3 quater of the bill against social and tax fraud. This text wanted to impose an annual declaration of digital asset portfolios controlled directly by their users.
In brief
- The mandatory declaration of self-hosted wallets has been ruled out in France.
- The mandatory declaration of self-hosted wallets has been ruled out in France.
- But the AMLA could relaunch the debate on a European scale.
A setback that changes the political signal
The article in question did not concern accounts opened on a traditional platform. It targeted wallets held directly on blockchain, without an intermediary provider. In short, wallets where the user keeps their keys themselves.
The threshold chosen was low. The text adopted in the Assembly spoke of an annual notification as soon as the total value of assets exceeded 5,000 euros. This declaration was to transmit to the tax administration the market value of the portfolio.
The problem was therefore not only fiscal. It touched on the very principle of self-preservation. With Bitcoin, owning your keys means actually owning your funds. Transforming this autonomy into a specific reporting obligation would have moved self-custody towards a zone of permanent suspicion.
The file that worried more than taxes
On paper, the objective was to give more visibility to the tax administration. The amendment even explained that he wanted to respond to the lack of readability on portfolios not managed by service providers. He presented these wallets as a possible tool for reducing the tax base.
But the ecosystem above all saw another risk. A file listing cryptoasset holders can become a target. Not just for hackers. Also for criminal networks looking for solvent, traceable and vulnerable profiles.
This point weighed heavily in the debate. France has seen several cases targeting people linked to cryptos or their relatives. Le Monde notably reported arrests in kidnapping cases linked to the sector, with targets associated with crypto entrepreneurs.
Bitcoin defends here more than a simple tool
This sequence recalls something often misunderstood. A self-hosted wallet is not a techie's fantasy. It is the logical extension of bitcoin. The network was designed to reduce reliance on trusted third parties.
Requesting a specific declaration for this practice would have created a strange asymmetry. Holding your own keys became more suspicious than entrusting your funds to a platform. This is precisely the opposite of the Bitcoin philosophy, which favors individual responsibility.
The mobilization of Adan and the National Bitcoin Institute therefore focused on a central point: the fight against fraud must not produce a map of crypto assets. Tax law may require you to declare winnings. But the annual inventory of private wallets opens another door.
The deletion of Article 3 quater does not close the case. She moves it. The European framework is already moving forward with MiCA, which imposes common rules on cryptoassets, providers, issuers and the supervision of transactions.
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