You buy a token that tracks Apple's course on the blockchain. You open a leveraged position on the SP500 from a crypto platform. The gesture is simple, quick, almost innocuous. However, behind this click hides a formidable question, the one that trips up the vast majority of investors: in the eyes of the French tax authorities, what do you really own?
Be careful, the trap is sneaky. The tax rate is the same everywhere (31.4% since 2026). So, it’s tempting to say to yourself: “After all, no matter the box, it’s the same percentage!” » Fatal error. Because if the rate does not change, everything else (the rules for calculating capital gains, the possibility of deducting your losses, and even the form to fill out) differs completely. Ignoring this distinction risks paying too much tax, or worse, finding yourself at odds with the administration.
To see things more clearly, we suggest here that we demystify this puzzle together. Forget abstruse jargon and incomprehensible legal texts. We will try to classify things simply so that everyone can see more clearly. It's gone.
The starting point: three categories, not one
The French tax administration does not classify assets according to the platform where you buy them, nor according to the price they follow. It classifies them according to their legal nature. There are three categories.
Category 1: Crypto-assets. You hold a fungible token, interchangeable with another identical one: one bitcoin is worth one bitcoin. Regime: article 150 VH bis of the General Tax Code.
Category 2: Transferable securities. You hold a security: a stock, an ETF, a bond or a certificate issued by a company. You have a right to something or someone. Regime: article 150-0 A.
Category 3: Financial contracts. You don't own anything at all. You have signed a contract with a platform, the value of which depends on the price of another asset. Regime: article 150 ter. We also speak of “derivative products” because their value derives from that of something else.
The key is knowing which category your product falls into.
The identical rate which numbs vigilance
Since January 1, 2026, the single flat tax has increased from 30% to 31.4%. It breaks down into 12.8% income tax (unchanged) and 18.6% social security contributions (compared to 17.2% previously), in accordance with the Social Security financing law for 2026.
This rate of 31.4% applies to the three categories mentioned above. Hence the widespread and erroneous conclusion that ranking does not matter.
But it has a considerable one, because the calculation rules have nothing to do with it.
In the crypto category: exchanges are neutral
Converting bitcoin into ether (or any other cryptocurrency, stablecoin included) does not trigger any tax. The operation is called “intercalary”: the tax authorities consider that you have not collected anything. The tax is only triggered when you switch to traditional currency (euros, dollars) or when you purchase a good or service with your cryptos.
There is also a threshold: if the total of your transfers during the year does not exceed 305 euros, you are exempt.
On the other hand, a loss that you do not use during the year is permanently lost. No postponement is possible.
In the securities category: every sale counts
No neutrality here. Each transfer is taxable, even if you are paid in something other than euros. No exemption threshold exists either.
The compensation is a substantial advantage: your capital losses are deducted from your capital gains of the same nature for the year, then against those of the following ten years. A bad year is no longer wasted.
In the derivatives category: we don't look through
This is the least intuitive point, and the one that causes the most errors.
For a derivative product, the underlying does not determine the tax category. A contract that tracks Apple's price and a contract that tracks Bitcoin's price fit into the same box, because what you are holding, in both cases, is a contract. The underlying only serves to set the price.
The calculation is also particular: it is not “sales price minus purchase price”, but the difference between the sums received and the sums paid, on a weighted average price if you have negotiated several identical contracts, and net of fees and taxes. Commissions and financing costs are therefore deducted.
Pay attention to a point rarely mentioned: when the account holder or the co-contractor is established in a non-cooperative State or territory within the meaning of article 238-0 A of the CGI, the rate increases to 50%. If you use platforms operating from exotic jurisdictions, verification is required.
Where do tokenized stocks fall?
The expression can be misleading. A “tokenized action” is almost never an action. The products offered by exchange platforms (Kraken's xStocks for example) are tracking certificates issued by a company, backed 1:1 by real shares held with a depository. You benefit from economic exposure to the price of the underlying stock, but you are not a shareholder: no direct voting rights, no dividend paid in cash (they are automatically reinvested in additional tokens), and no legal claim on the underlying shares. (Since August 2026, however, a mechanism has made it possible to vote by proxy at Kraken.)
These characteristics place them in category 2, that of transferable securities. The text also says it almost explicitly: article 150 VH bis excludes from the crypto regime tokens presenting the characteristics of financial instruments.
And the border has hardened again recently. The law of June 25, 2026 against social and tax fraud restricted the crypto regime, for sales made since January 1, 2026, to only crypto-assets covered by the European MiCA regulation, which expressly excludes financial instruments. The same text creates a regime for non-fungible tokens (NFTs), taxed according to the nature of the good they represent. The legislator therefore assumes a logic of transparency: for a backed token, we look through the packaging.
An important reservation: the qualification of a token as a security depends on its precise legal structure. All equity-backed tokens are not necessarily financial securities within the meaning of Article L 211-1 of the Monetary and Financial Code. A case-by-case analysis remains necessary.
Where do equity derivative contracts fall?
This is the question that comes up most often, and the answer is surprising.
Some platforms offer perpetual contracts on stocks and ETFs, without expiration date, with a funding rate mechanism to maintain alignment with the spot price. Others offer futures contracts with expiry, such as OKX's X-Perps (their trade name is misleading: they expire after five years, so they are not perpetual).
In both cases, marketing vocabulary sometimes speaks of products “backed” by actions. This is incorrect: nothing is held, nothing is put in reserve. The contract is a pure derivative, settled in cash or in stablecoin (be careful, this can also change everything tax-wise), which tracks the economic performance of the underlying asset without ever transferring ownership. The only technical difference (the absence or presence of an expiration date) has no tax implications.
These products therefore fall into category 3, that of financial contracts, and not into that of transferable securities, even when they follow the S&P 500 or Nvidia. Perpetual or term: the box is the same.
Pay attention to the payment method
If the contract is settled in stablecoin, receiving a digital asset in settlement may have additional reporting consequences. The digital asset account on which you receive the stablecoins must be declared via form 3916-bis if outside France, and any subsequent conversion into euros will be taxable. On the other hand, payment in USD simplifies the declaration: no double form, no capital gain on stablecoin.
The practical consequence is interesting. Since profits on financial contracts and capital gains on transferable securities are considered to be of the same nature, a loss on a derivative contract backed by Apple can be offset against a capital gain realized by selling real shares, or tokenized shares. On the other hand, it will never be able to reduce a gain on bitcoin, which belongs to another category. And symmetrically, a crypto loss will never offset a derivative profit.
A reserve of honesty
No French administrative doctrine specifically deals with perpetual contracts or long-term stock futures contracts. The reasoning presented here is based on the qualification of financial contract, that used by the platforms themselves when they operate under a European license. It is consistent, but it is not confirmed by a dedicated text. The final qualification depends on the exact legal structure of each product, as assessed in the light of articles L 211-1 et seq. of the Monetary and Financial Code.
The trap that almost no one anticipates
You have held ether for seven years, with strong gains. You use them to buy tokenized shares, or to finance a derivatives position.
What you receive in exchange is not a crypto-asset. The neutrality of the exchanges therefore does not apply: the transaction can be analyzed as a taxable sale of your ether, and all the accumulated capital gain becomes taxable immediately, without a cent of euros being entered into your bank account.
The risk disappears when you buy in euros, which is allowed by platforms with European approval. It is maximum on decentralized protocols, where entry is necessarily in stablecoins.
Declare: the rules have seriously tightened
The form depends on the box. The 2086 for crypto-assets. Schedule 2074 for securities and derivatives, including if you did everything from a crypto account.
Regardless of any gain, accounts held abroad must be declared: form 3916 for bank and securities accounts, 3916-bis for digital asset portfolios.
The law of June 25, 2026 extended this obligation to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) held abroad and strengthened the sanctions:
- up to 1,500 euros fine per undeclared wallet;
- an increase of 80% on tax reminders linked to omitted assets.
At the same time, since January 1, 2026, the European directive DAC8 has required platforms to automatically transmit their users' data to tax administrations. The gap between what you declare and what the tax authorities know is closing quickly.
Three reflexes to remember
Never assume that a product purchased on a crypto platform is a crypto-asset for tax purposes. Ask yourself the only question that matters: do I hold a token, a title, or a contract? Qualification depends on the precise legal structure of each product, not on its marketing packaging.
Avoid paying in cryptocurrencies to enter a product that is not one (securities, financial contracts), unless you accept the idea of immediate taxation of the latent capital gain on your crypto-assets.
Keep your own history (dates, amounts, fees). Very few platforms provide a tax report that can be directly used under French law, especially when crypto-assets, financial securities and derivatives are mixed.
The law on this subject remains under construction. On significant amounts, the advice of a tax specialist is not a luxury: it is insurance so that your investment choices do not turn into costly tax disputes a few years later.
