Crypto exchange Bull Bitcoin sued France’s finance ministry over new crypto data rules, saying they force handing too much user data.
Bull Bitcoin, a Bitcoin exchange led by Francis Pouliot, a Canadian Bitcoin entrepreneur and privacy advocate, has filed a case in France against the country’s implementation of DAC8, a European Union tax-reporting rule for crypto companies.
The case targets the French decree that puts DAC8 into local law. Bull Bitcoin is asking France’s Conseil d’État, the country’s highest administrative court, to strike it down, the exchange said in an X post on Tuesday, July 7.
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Under the rule, crypto firms have to collect data regarding customers and transactions and pass the data to the national tax authority of the jurisdiction. The national tax authority could further share such data with other jurisdictions having the same reporting system in place.
But as Bull Bitcoin argues, that requirement creates “a massive international financial-data honeypot,” linking people’s names, addresses and crypto activity, even when they aren’t suspected of wrongdoing. The exchange added:
“This is grossly disproportionate and poses a serious threat to the physical safety of crypto holders and their families.”
Bull Bitcoin Says User Safety Is at Risk
Under DAC8, crypto businesses would report user activity every year, including trades, payments and transfers even to self-custody wallets. Bull Bitcoin says that turns exchanges into collection points for sensitive financial data:
“If necessary, we are prepared to take this fight before the Court of Justice of the European Union and the French Constitutional Council.”
The exchange highlighted an increasingly common concern in the crypto world, since leaks of personal data increase the risk of robbery, intimidation, or kidnapping of crypto owners.
And that concern becomes even more pressing in France, where there have been reports of physical assaults of crypto holders and their relatives.
According to Le Parisien, a French daily newspaper, France has logged 77 crypto-linked kidnapping, extortion and attempted extortion cases so far in 2026, up 71% from 45 last year.
Read more: “Wrench Attacks” in France: 88 People Charged in Kidnappings of Crypto Investors
