Since January 1, 2026, a European directive called DAC8 forces every licensed crypto exchange to collect and hand over user identities, home addresses, and full transaction histories to tax authorities. Those authorities then automatically share everything across EU member states and participating countries worldwide.
The stated goal is tax compliance. The actual result is a centralized database linking real names, physical addresses, and crypto activity for millions of people.
France recorded 45 bitcoin-related kidnappings and violent attacks in 2025. In the first half of 2026 alone, that number jumped to 77. France is now the country with the most crypto-targeted physical attacks in the world. Leaked financial data is increasingly used to identify and locate victims.
DAC8 pours gasoline on this fire. The more systems, civil servants, contractors, and foreign governments that touch this data, the higher the probability of breach. France has already suffered multiple leaks of sensitive government databases. A honeypot of this scale, given enough time, will be breached. When it is, criminal organizations get a ready-made targeting list.
Bull Bitcoin is fighting back
Bull Bitcoin, the world’s oldest Bitcoin-only non-custodial exchange, filed a petition before France’s Conseil d’État, the country’s highest administrative court, seeking to annul the decree that implements DAC8 in French law. They are a MiCA-licensed, self-funded company that has operated since 2013 without ever raising outside capital. This is a serious legal challenge.
Their argument: automated mass financial-data collection violates fundamental privacy rights under EU and French constitutional law. A victory would set a precedent for similar challenges across Europe. If necessary, they will escalate to the Court of Justice of the European Union.
Francis Pouliot, Bull Bitcoin’s CEO, put it simply: DAC8 has turned “Know Your Customer” into “Kill Your Customer.”
Alongside the lawsuit, they launched dac8.com — a fully sourced reference site with the directive’s text, OECD and EU sources, and analysis in multiple languages.
Why we support this
Bull Bitcoin is a Konsensus partner. Their model matches our convictions: they never hold your bitcoin, they’ve never taken outside money, and they’re now spending their own resources on a legal fight that benefits every European crypto user.
If you’re in Europe and want to buy bitcoin through a non-custodial, regulated exchange that is actively fighting for your privacy, you can sign up with our referral link below. Otherwise, we recommend using peer-to-peer and private solutions whenever you can.
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