France Proposes State Bitcoin Reserve, Adds Tax Breaks

French lawmakers led by Éric Ciotti (UDR) have tabled a comprehensive pro-crypto bill to create a national Bitcoin Strategic Reserve that would acquire roughly 2% of Bitcoin’s supply (about 420,000 BTC) over 7–8 years and be managed by a public administrative body. The plan would fund purchases through measures including public mining using surplus nuclear/hydro power, seized crypto, allocations from popular savings schemes (e.g., Livret A/LDDS) and regular daily market purchases, and it would require the reserve to be held in perpetuity. The package also includes tax breaks for domestic miners, rules to foster euro‑denominated stablecoins, provisions to permit some tax payments in BTC, and proposals to allow perpetual accumulation of BTC. Critics raise environmental, legal and privacy concerns, and several motions seek to block a proposed ECB digital euro, though ruling‑majority skepticism makes passage uncertain. The proposal has spurred parallel moves in Europe—Germany’s AfD pushed a motion to treat Bitcoin as a strategic national asset and preserve favorable tax treatment—while implementation faces EU regulatory frictions, constitutional and environmental hurdles.