Daily Observation of Cryptocurrency Policy: The French Senate passed the tax information exchange agreement on first reading, and the OECD Cryptocurrency Report Framework (CARF) is accelerating its implementation in Europe

Legislative Prelude: The French Senate's First Reading Approval

Multinational tax information sharing is the core infrastructure for combating tax evasion on the blockchain, and France is attempting to take the lead in Europe in this area. On October 27, the French Senate completed the first reading of the multilateral agreement on tax information exchange and approved it. The bill has now been officially handed over to the National Assembly for the next stage of review. Although the overall legislative process has not yet been finalized, the Senate's endorsement sends a strong political signal: the French government has prioritized the regulation of capital gains tax reporting and data exchange for domestic and foreign cryptocurrency investors as one of the core agendas for national tax legal system construction in the medium to short term.

Core Foundation: OECD-Based Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF)

The true power of this multilateral agreement lies in its adoption of a globally applicable and standardized data capture rule set. The bill and related agreements are entirely based on the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) drafted by the OECD over several years. Under the CARF mechanism, tax authorities in jurisdictions participating in this multilateral agreement will no longer rely on the traditional "case-by-case request" model to obtain tax information, but will instead automatically and regularly collect and exchange user transaction information held by cryptocurrency service providers (including exchanges, custodial wallets, etc.). This unified standard will enable the French tax authorities to clearly and in real-time understand the holdings, transaction frequency, and fiat withdrawal and deposit flows of French tax residents at compliant exchanges abroad, thoroughly breaking down data silos between different countries.

Synchronizing Old and New: Updating Traditional Financial Account Information Exchange

To prevent capital from seeking tax loopholes between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi), the bill has undergone a "dual-track upgrade." The bill not only introduces an exclusive CARF framework for crypto assets but also includes a comprehensive update to the existing automatic exchange agreements for traditional financial account information (such as the CRS system). This synchronized upgrade of the old and new systems aims to eliminate the physical boundaries in tax identification and tracking between fiat assets and digital tokens, ensuring that investors' asset profiles are seamlessly presented under the radar of their home tax authorities, whether they open accounts at traditional offshore banks or conduct large transactions on overseas crypto platforms.

Reshaping the Tax Compliance Boundaries for European Crypto Investors

In light of the regulatory trends in Europe at the end of October, the French Senate's approval of the CARF implementation bill is a key reflection of major economies weaving a "tax net on the blockchain." Once this bill is approved by the National Assembly and officially comes into effect, French tax residents who have long hidden their crypto asset gains using offshore platforms will face extremely high risks of back taxes and audits. This will not only compel European retail and institutional investors to reassess their compliance paths for crypto asset allocation but will also accelerate the push for global compliant exchanges to fully launch tax data direct reporting systems that meet CARF standards around 2027.

Data Source: https://bbx.com/ Crypto Concept Stock Information Database, compiled based on announcements from global listed companies and SEC/TSE disclosure documents from yesterday.