France’s Crypto Pivot: Bitcoin as Strategic Reserve and the Rejection of the Digital Euro

Main Points :

• France’s right-centre party proposes creating a national strategic reserve of up to 420,000 BTC (≈ 2 % of total supply) over 7-8 years.
  
• Funding the reserve would include excess nuclear/hydro energy-based mining, seized crypto assets, and dedicated savings flows.
  
• The bill proposes that France forbid the introduction of the Digital Euro (a CBDC) and instead promote euro-stablecoins and broader crypto investment.
  
• The initiative situates itself as part of a wider shift: nations exploring decentralised assets, stablecoins and alternative monetary sovereignty amid rising crypto institutionalisation.
  
• For crypto practitioners, this legislation highlights new institutional demand, evolving regulatory regimes, and potential breakthroughs for blockchain-based national finance strategies.

1. Background: What’s being proposed

In late October 2025, the French mid-right party Union of the Right and for the Republic (UDR) submitted to the national parliament a comprehensive bill focused on cryptocurrencies. Led by MP Éric Ciotti, the bill seeks to treat Bitcoin (BTC) as “digital gold” and establish a formal national strategic reserve.

Specifically, the proposal calls for acquiring up to 2 % of Bitcoin’s total supply – roughly 420,000 BTC – over a 7-8 year horizon. To administer the reserve, the bill would create a public administrative institution (EPA) akin to the one that monitors gold & foreign-currency reserves, matched with public asset-holding powers for seized crypto.

At the same time, the bill includes energy-policy incentives: leveraging France’s surplus nuclear and hydroelectric power for state-controlled bitcoin mining operations; also tax-breaks for miners and directed savings-products (like Livret A) partially channelled into BTC purchases (≈ €15 m/day) – all without new debt issuance.

2. Why this matters for crypto and blockchain ecosystems

For those seeking new crypto assets, yields, or practical blockchain deployment, the French proposal represents a convergence of state-level institutional demand and infrastructure (mining, custody, reserves). From the perspective of asset builders and investors, it suggests:

• Institutional legitimisation of Bitcoin: If a major European nation openly treats BTC as a reserve asset, that could help shift perceptions of crypto from speculative fringe to macro-asset class.
• Mining as strategic asset: By tying mining to surplus renewable/nuclear energy, the bill signals mining’s role beyond pure speculation—into national energy arbitrage, grid optimisation, and blockchain infrastructure.
• Stablecoin & digital-asset policy variation: Rejecting the digital euro in favour of private euro-stablecoins highlights divergent regulatory paths and could open opportunities in stablecoin deployment, token issuance, payments rails and blockchain financing.
• Regulatory arbitrage potential: The bill calls for divergence from the 2022 Basel standards for banks holding crypto assets. For practitioners, this suggests regulatory levers still being shaped and windows of innovation remain.
• Geopolitical and monetary-sovereignty dimension: The move frames crypto not just as technology but as part of national financial sovereignty, independent from either the euro-zone’s centralised currency model or US-dominated banking systems.

3. The Digital Euro Rejection & Stablecoin Embrace

One of the more striking aspects of the bill is its explicit rejection of the digital euro (CBDC) being developed by the European Central Bank, and instead a push for euro-denominated stablecoins and crypto investment.

Ciotti frames the digital euro as a potential threat to individual freedom, financial choice and monetary sovereignty. In contrast, the bill proposes:

• Promotion of private-sector euro-stablecoins.
  
• Enabling payment of certain taxes in Bitcoin (pending constitutional approval) and daily state purchases of BTC from popular savings (≈ €15m/day).
  

For blockchain practitioners, this signals a possible shift: where previously CBDCs dominated the discussion of digital currency infrastructure in Europe, private tokenised rails (stablecoins) may gain traction if this legislative agenda evolves. Also, the bill’s push to allow banks/financial institutions to use crypto assets as collateral (by relaxing Basel norms) opens up DeFi-adjacent workflows and institutional tokenised-asset strategies.

4. Funding Strategy & Infrastructure Implications

The bill outlines several interesting mechanisms to fund and operationalise the strategic reserve:

• Surplus nuclear/hydro energy used for bitcoin mining: By harvesting excess production (which might otherwise be curtailed), the state aims to convert idle energy into economic value through mining.
  
• Mandating a daily purchase of BTC via part of savings products (e.g., ¼ of funds from Livret A or LDDS) – amounting to approx. €15 million/day, or roughly 55,000 BTC annually.
• Seized crypto assets (from judicial enforcement) directed into the reserve.
  
• A dedicated public institution (EPA) to manage transparency, custody, and issuance processes.
  

For blockchain entrepreneurs and infrastructure providers, this creates potential demand for: secure institutional custody services, mining deployment (especially in low-cost energy zones), public-sector token tracking, audit and transparency tooling, and potential tokenised-reserve reporting platforms.

5. Risks, Political Hurdles & Market Implications

While ambitious, the proposal faces several significant hurdles:

• The UDR holds only 16 seats in the 577-member National Assembly, so passage is uncertain.
• EU institutional frameworks (including the ECB, EU regulation) may resist unilateral national deviation from the digital euro and EU-wide monetary policy.
• Managing the volatility of Bitcoin within sovereign reserves raises risk-management questions: How to hedge, report, value, audit, and perhaps govern losses?
• The energy-mining strategy depends on surplus energy infrastructure, regulatory permissions, and energy-market economics.
• If the bill remains symbolic, market expectations may get over-excited, so practitioners should apply caution.

From a market viewpoint, the mere possibility that a major European government might purchase tens of thousands of BTC could stimulate institutional interest and accumulation narratives. It may also increase demand for euro-stablecoins and regulated staking or mining ventures in Europe. For new token issuers, this signals a broader ecosystem tilt toward “real world asset” integration, sovereign backing, and infrastructure-scale thinking.

6. What this means for crypto-assets and blockchain use-cases

For your target audience — those hunting new crypto assets, income opportunities, and practical blockchain deployments — several take-aways emerge:

• Bitcoin (BTC): If sovereign accumulation becomes real, Bitcoin’s narrative as “digital gold” strengthens. For asset allocators and wallet-designers, infrastructure around secure custody, reserves modelling and on-chain analytics becomes more relevant.
• Stablecoins in euros: The legislative push in France elevates euro-stablecoins (and by extension EVM-chain, or multi-chain stablecoin rails) as a strategic modality. Building token-issuance platforms, payments rails, or DeFi protocols centred on euro-stablecoins may gain advantage.
• Mining and energy arbitrage: Where mining aligns with surplus energy (nuclear/hydro), the model suggests new income streams: mining as a value-conversion layer of renewable/idle energy. For blockchain infrastructure teams, that suggests opportunities in green-mining setups, hosting, colocation, and energy-blockchain integration.
• Sovereign reserve tokenisation: The concept of public institutions holding crypto opens opportunities for tokenising sovereign assets, audit/tracking systems, reserve reporting tokens, or blockchain transparency tools. If national treasuries adopt crypto-reserves, services around compliance, reporting, custody, audit and token-governance will expand.
• Regulatory strategy: Divergence from CBDC models and advocating stablecoins hints at regulatory arbitrage windows. For your wallet project (you were designing a non-custodial wallet with swapping capability), it could mean future integrations with euro-stablecoins, state-backed reserves, and national fiat-on-chain gateways.

7. Recent Trend Context & Global Implications

Beyond France, we are seeing a broader global trend:

• The U.S., in July 2025, used a legislative model that discouraged central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and instead encouraged stablecoins.
  
• Other European nations (e.g., Sweden) have debated national Bitcoin reserve motions.
  
• Mining strategies are increasingly being tied to excess or renewable energy, as nations seek to convert stranded energy into economic value.
• Institutional flows into crypto assets continue to accelerate, with macro-strategic demand now being discussed at the state-level, not just by hedge funds or corporations.

Given this, France’s proposal could act as a bellwether: if adopted, other governments might follow suit, making crypto-infrastructure, custody, mining and stablecoin rails the next frontier of state finance.

8. Practical take-aways for crypto builders & investors

• Consider exposure to Bitcoin infrastructure (mining companies, custody providers, wallet SDKs) not just as speculative assets but as strategic infrastructure providers in a shifting national finance context.
• For wallet and token-issuance projects (such as your non-custodial wallet design), support for euro-stablecoins and crypto-taxation/payment rails could become vital. Designing for multi-chain, regulatory-aware stablecoin use and wallets supporting sovereign-assets may be a competitive edge.
• Monitor regulatory movements in Europe: national parliament bills (even those from minority parties) can shift market expectations and ecosystem direction.
• Infrastructure around energy-derived mining (especially low-carbon sources) could form a nexus between renewable energy, blockchain mining, and tokenisation – investigate partnerships in this space.
• From an investment lens: While Bitcoin remains the anchor asset, stablecoins and tokenised-fiat rails are emerging as critical infrastructure. Projects that can bridge fiat, stablecoins and crypto using robust UX (think your wallet) stand to gain.

Conclusion

The French bill proposed by Éric Ciotti and the UDR marks a bold reimagining of how a European state might engage with crypto-assets: not as speculative side-bets, but as foundational elements of national monetary sovereignty. By proposing a national reserve of up to 420,000 BTC, leveraging state-controlled mining, and rejecting the digital euro in favour of stablecoins and crypto holdings, France is signalling a paradigm shift – where blockchain intersects with state finance, energy policy and fiat-token thinking.

For practitioners designing wallets, building token rails, or seeking new asset opportunities, this means the frontier is expanding: from individual DeFi projects to national infrastructure, from mining arbitrage to sovereign reserves, from CBDCs to stablecoin rails. Whether the bill passes or not, it has already seeded ideas that will shape the next wave of blockchain adoption, institutional flows and asset structuring.

As you build your wallet, integrate stablecoins, design for regulation-aware flows, and monitor national-level crypto policy. This is no longer just about tokens and traders — it’s about systems and states. The next chapter of blockchain utility, yield and adoption may well be written in legislative halls.