Bull Bitcoin sues France over DAC8, citing 75% more wrench attacks and a 'mass database' of targets 🗝️

Bull Bitcoin has petitioned France's Council of State (Conseil d'État) to strike down a French decree implementing the European Union's DAC8 crypto tax reporting rules, the exchange said Wednesday. DAC8 requires crypto service providers to collect users' identity and transaction data and automatically report it to national tax authorities, which then exchange the information with their counterparts across EU member states. The directive went into effect on Jan. 1, 2026.

In a Wednesday press release, Bull Bitcoin said DAC8 risks creating a "mass database" linking legal identity and home addresses, including transactions with no relevance to taxation. "Against a backdrop of daily data leaks and a surge in kidnappings targeting crypto-asset holders, building such a database endangers the physical safety of millions of holders and their loved ones." The exchange filed a summary petition before the Conseil d'État on Feb. 24, followed by a substantive legal brief outlining its arguments, and said it intends to pursue "every legitimate avenue to suspend, delay, annul or amend the effects of DAC8 and its global counterpart, the CARF." The Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) is an OECD-developed global standard for collecting and exchanging information on crypto transactions.

Under DAC8, crypto service providers must submit their first reports covering the 2026 calendar year by Sept. 30, 2027, after which tax authorities in EU member states will automatically exchange the information. France implemented DAC8's crypto reporting rules through Decree No. 2025-1276, signed Dec. 19, 2025.

Bull Bitcoin's warning cites data on physical threats to crypto holders. Wrench attacks increased by 75% in 2025 to 72 verified cases worldwide, according to cybersecurity company CertiK. France saw the most incidents during 2025, with 19 confirmed wrench attacks, while Europe accounted for roughly 40% of global incidents. RTL reported in April that French police had counted 41 crypto-related kidnappings since the start of 2026. In May 2025, Coinbase said that less than 1% of its transacting monthly users were affected in an attack that may cost the exchange up to $400 million in reimbursement expenses.