Bitcoin exchange asks top French court to scrap tax reporting rule

Non-custodial Bitcoin exchange Bull Bitcoin announced on July 8 that it has filed a petition with France's Conseil d'État, the country's highest administrative court, to annul a government decree implementing the European Union's crypto tax reporting directive, DAC8. Bull Bitcoin argued that the regulation could create surveillance and physical risks for up to 135 million European crypto holders. DAC8 mandates that crypto service providers collect user identity and transaction data and automatically report it to national tax authorities, with the information then shared among EU member states. The directive took effect on Jan. 1, 2026. In a press release, Bull Bitcoin warned that DAC8 risks creating a massive database linking users' legal identities and residential addresses, including for transactions unrelated to taxation. The exchange emphasized that amid daily data breaches and a surge in kidnappings targeting crypto holders, building such a database threatens the physical safety of millions of holders and their families.