Chainalysis estimated on Aug. 26 that France generated about $9.4 billion in potentially taxable crypto activity during 2025, placing the country among the world’s 15 largest markets covered by its latest crypto tax study.
Summary
- Chainalysis estimated global potentially taxable crypto activity reached $457 billion across six blockchains during 2025.
- France accounted for estimated $9.4 billion in income, gains, and crypto payment activity during 2025.
- French taxpayers reported €368 million in crypto gains for 2024 through approximately 24,000 tax filings submitted.
- DAC8 requires providers to collect 2026 transaction data, with first exchanges due September 30, 2027.
- Chainalysis cautioned its estimates exclude exchange-internal activity and may understate total taxable economic income worldwide.
The estimate included $1.7 billion in crypto income, $2.5 billion in realized gains and $5.2 billion in crypto payments. It arrives as France prepares to receive detailed customer and transaction data under the European Union’s DAC8 tax reporting system and the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, or CARF.
Chainalysis described the figures as “potentially taxable activity,” rather than unpaid taxes or government revenue. Tax treatment varies by transaction type, taxpayer status and national law. Crypto payments, for example, cannot be treated as equivalent to undeclared capital gains.
The company also did not estimate that more than 90% of French crypto taxes went unpaid. Its reference to non-compliance above 90% came from a Swedish tax authority study concerning taxpayers in Sweden. Applying that rate directly to France would not be supported by the available evidence.
Chainalysis estimates France generated $9.4B in activity
The Chainalysis study estimated that potentially taxable on-chain crypto activity reached at least $457 billion worldwide in 2025. The United States led individual countries with $112.6 billion, while the European Union collectively accounted for $125.1 billion.
France ranked 13th among the countries listed in the study. Its estimated $9.4 billion total consisted of three separate categories: income, gains and payments. Chainalysis included mining, staking, lending and gambling proceeds within income. Its gains category covered activity attributed to centralized and decentralized exchanges.
Payments included transfers linked to merchant services and peer-to-peer economic activity. Such activity may create different income tax, capital gains tax or indirect tax questions depending on the circumstances. The full $9.4 billion therefore does not represent a taxable profit figure or an estimate of tax owed.
Chainalysis produced the estimates using activity across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, BNB Smart Chain and Base. It assigned activity geographically through direct location indicators and proportional allocations based on service-level activity.
The company acknowledged that trading, staking and lending conducted within centralized exchange systems cannot always be observed on a public blockchain. It said this limitation means its estimates may understate total economic income.
Chainalysis called the figures “potentially taxable activity.” They should not be read as confirmed unpaid taxes or recoverable government revenue.
The report compared its broader estimates with public evidence of weak crypto tax reporting. It cited Sweden’s tax authority, which previously found that more than 90% of people reviewed had not correctly reported their crypto activity. That finding concerns Sweden and does not establish France’s non-compliance rate.
French data nevertheless show a wide difference between declared gains and estimated activity. Approximately 24,000 taxpayers reported €368 million in crypto capital gains for tax year 2024, according to figures attributed to the French tax administration. However, that declared amount covers a different year and a narrower category than Chainalysis’ $9.4 billion estimate.
A direct comparison would also mix euros with dollars. More importantly, it would compare declared net capital gains with gross activity spanning income, gains and payments. The figures indicate an enforcement question, but they do not measure the French crypto tax gap on a like-for-like basis.
France’s crypto tax reporting changes under DAC8
DAC8 took effect across the EU on Jan. 1, 2026. Reporting crypto-asset service providers must now collect information covering reportable transactions conducted by EU-resident users.
Required customer information can include names, addresses, tax identification numbers, dates of birth and tax residences. Providers must also report aggregated values and transaction counts for exchanges, transfers and certain payments.
The European Commission says providers began collecting reportable 2026 transaction data on Jan. 1. Reports covering that first year must be exchanged between EU tax authorities by Sept. 30, 2027.
As previously reported in coverage of the new EU rules, DAC8 covers crypto-to-fiat trades, crypto-to-crypto exchanges and transfers involving external addresses. A withdrawal to self-custody can therefore appear in a provider’s report even though self-custody itself is not prohibited.
The underlying directive also requires providers to collect tax-residency self-certifications. Existing individual users generally must provide valid self-certification information by Jan. 1, 2027.
If a customer fails to provide required information after two reminders, member states must require providers to prevent reportable transactions after a 60-day period. National implementation, enforcement procedures and penalties can still differ.
CARF extends a similar exchange model beyond the EU. The OECD expects the first exchanges between participating jurisdictions to begin in 2027. France is among the jurisdictions committed to that timetable.
Reporting rules still leave most on-chain activity outside direct reach
Chainalysis estimated that transactions falling within CARF’s practical reporting reach represented only 14% of the potentially taxable on-chain activity it identified. The remaining 86% involved areas such as decentralized exchanges, peer-to-peer transfers, on-chain income and payments.
CARF and DAC8 primarily obtain information from reporting service providers. Centralized exchanges and brokers can link transactions to verified customer identities because they maintain account records and normally conduct know-your-customer checks.
Decentralized protocols may not have an operator holding the same identifying information. A taxpayer can also use several private wallets, interact directly with smart contracts or move assets between services in different jurisdictions.
Public blockchains record transfers, but they do not automatically identify the taxpayer, establish the purpose of a transaction or calculate the correct cost basis. A wallet transfer could represent a sale, a payment, collateral movement or a transfer between addresses controlled by the same person.
Cost-basis records become harder to reconstruct when a user buys an asset through one provider, moves it through private wallets and later sells through another provider. The receiving exchange may know the sale proceeds without knowing the original purchase price.
In related coverage of the Chainalysis findings, crypto.news reported that platform reporting may need to be combined with blockchain records to reconstruct activity involving DeFi and private wallets.
The report’s 86% estimate does not mean that activity will remain invisible or untaxed. It means it may not be directly described in reports supplied by intermediaries. Tax agencies can still use exchange records, blockchain analysis, audits and information obtained from other jurisdictions.
What happens next for French taxpayers and providers
Crypto service providers must continue collecting reportable customer and transaction data throughout 2026. They must also verify tax-residency declarations and prepare the first annual reports for submission during 2027.
France’s tax authority will then be able to compare provider reports with domestic tax returns and data received from other EU states. CARF exchanges could add information from participating jurisdictions outside the bloc.
The new system will not retroactively produce complete histories for activity conducted before the reporting period. Authorities may still need account statements, wallet records and blockchain analysis when reviewing historical gains or reconstructing acquisition costs.
Taxpayers remain responsible for maintaining records showing purchases, disposals, income and transfers. A transaction appearing in a DAC8 report does not by itself determine the amount of French tax due. The tax calculation still depends on French law and the taxpayer’s circumstances.
FAQs
Did Chainalysis say 90% of French crypto taxes are unpaid?
No. Chainalysis cited a Swedish authority’s finding that more than 90% of reviewed crypto users in Sweden failed to report correctly. It did not publish an equivalent rate for France.
Does France’s $9.4 billion represent unpaid tax?
No. The figure estimates potentially taxable activity, including income, realized gains and payments. It is neither a tax bill nor an estimate of recoverable revenue.
When will France receive the first DAC8 reports?
Providers began collecting data on Jan. 1, 2026. EU authorities must exchange the first reporting-year information by Sept. 30, 2027.
Does DAC8 cover self-custody wallets?
DAC8 can capture transfers between reporting providers and external wallet addresses. It does not create continuous provider reporting for every transaction conducted entirely within self-custody.
