French lawmakers narrowly approved a proposal to tax cryptocurrency gains when investors swap digital assets for stablecoins, bringing these transactions closer to falling under the country’s 31.4% capital gains levy. The National Assembly adopted amendment I-3898 to the 2027 budget on Oct. 16 by a vote of 38 to 37, with 25 abstentions. Under current French tax rules, exchanges between cryptocurrencies without additional cash payments generally benefit from tax deferral. The proposed amendment would remove this deferral for transactions involving e-money tokens as defined by the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework. Investors could owe tax on gains when moving into qualifying stablecoins, even without withdrawing funds to a bank account. The changes would apply to transactions starting Jan. 1, 2027. However, the proposal remains subject to remaining parliamentary stages and could still be amended or removed before becoming law.