Analysis

The structural incentive pushes users toward the unregulated stablecoin, the exact opposite of what MiCA intended.

On October 7, 2026, the French National Assembly’s Finance Committee voted 38-37 to extend the country’s existing 31.4% flat tax on crypto gains to crypto-to-stablecoin swaps. The amendment, sponsored by Communist MP Nicolas Sansu and 16 left-wing co-signers, treats swaps into MiCA-regulated stablecoins as taxable disposals, effective January 1, 2027. But the vote carries a structural irony that undermines the very regulatory framework it claims to enforce: USDT, the world’s largest stablecoin, is exempt.

The mechanism is straightforward. Under EU MiCA regulation, stablecoins are classified as either electronic…