Crypto Futures Trading in France (2026): Exchanges, the 30% Flat Tax & Rules

Crypto trading is legal and widely used in France, supervised by the AMF and now the EU's MiCA rules. If you want to trade futures or perpetuals, here is how access, tax and risk actually work. (General information, not financial or tax advice - verify with a professional.)

Where French traders trade futures

French residents use the major global exchanges for crypto perpetuals, opening accounts with KYC and funding in EUR via SEPA or card. Scan the live perp markets and check funding rates before choosing a pair.

The 30% flat tax (PFU)

For most individual investors, gains on crypto are taxed under the flat tax (PFU, "prélèvement forfaitaire unique") at 30% (12.8% income tax plus 17.2% social contributions), applied when you cash out to euros. Frequent or professional trading can be treated differently. Log every realized gain - our PnL calculator gives the exact number per trade - and confirm your status with a French tax advisor.

Practice before you use leverage

Futures are unforgiving. Use our Paper Trade terminal to open longs and shorts at the live price with zero risk, then size each real position with the position size calculator and know your liquidation price in advance. New traders should also read how much leverage to use first. France is part of crypto futures across the EU.

After the MiCA deadline: where French traders stand

France ran its own PSAN registration regime for years, which is exactly why the 1 July 2026 cutoff landed differently here: the national rules French platforms operated under stopped being sufficient on their own. The AMF remains your reference point, and its published list is what to check before depositing anywhere.

France also shows how fast status moves. Bybit was removed from the AMF blacklist in February 2025 and French users were migrated to Bybit EU, the entity holding a MiCAR licence from Austria's regulator and passporting it into France. If you last checked which platforms were usable from France more than a year ago, that answer is stale - here is what actually happened when the deadline passed.