420K BTC For France : The Boldest Crypto Proposal Yet

What if the future of monetary reserves no longer relied on gold or fiat currencies, but on bitcoin? In France, a bill supported by the UDR party plans to create a national reserve of 420,000 BTC. A groundbreaking initiative which, although driven by a minority parliamentary group, challenges the foundations of monetary sovereignty. At a time when states are groping with cryptos, this project revives a major strategic debate.

A National Reserve of 420,000 Bitcoins: UDR’s Committed Bet

In a legislative text, the UDR party, chaired by Éric Ciotti, intends to make France a pioneer in digital monetary sovereignty, while the institutional rush towards bitcoin is in full swing.

The project aims to build a national strategic reserve of 420,000 bitcoins, representing 2% of the total circulating BTC supply, and aims to "position France as a pro-Bitcoin European institutional hub".

To realize this initiative, the UDR plans to create a public administrative institution (EPA) responsible for overseeing operations over a 7 to 8 year period.

The operational terms of this accumulation are detailed in the bill as follows:

• •
  The daily invested amount: 15 million euros, exclusively dedicated to buying BTC;
• •
  The annual acquisition target: about 55,000 BTC per year;
• •
  Funding through public savings, without additional monetary issuance or debt;
• •
  An institutional framework by an independent public body, guaranteeing transparency of operations.

This project aims to meet a need to diversify national reserves, historically concentrated in fiat currencies such as the euro or dollar. By introducing bitcoin into the reserve strategy, the UDR advocates a global interpretation of sovereignty, based on assets not issued by states and resilient against geopolitical or monetary pressures.

For the first time in France, a parliamentary text formally proposes integrating a native blockchain asset into the State’s strategic heritage.

A Project with Multiple Ramifications

The text does not only plan the purchase of BTC on the markets. It also proposes an organic accumulation strategy, through public bitcoin mining, leveraging the excess nuclear and hydroelectric energy production available in the territory.

The ambition is to make the operation economically viable, even virtuous, by mobilizing low-carbon and already existing energy. Added to this is the integration of bitcoins seized during judicial procedures into the reserve, a practice already partially implemented in several countries, including France. Bitcoins from judicial seizures, notably in cases linked to the dark web, can be redirected to the national reserve.

Beyond bitcoin, the legislative project proposes measures to promote the use of euro stablecoins, notably through a 200 € tax exemption on payments, and by allowing certain taxes to be paid in cryptos.

The text goes as far as explicitly rejecting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), described as a "threat to individual financial freedoms", and instead proposes tax and regulatory relief for stablecoin issuers in Europe. It also considers the possibility of using bitcoin as collateral in specific bank loans.

This direction marks an attempt to strategically reposition France in the European digital monetary landscape. By opposing head-on the CBDCs, promoted by the ECB, while defending an alternative model based on decentralized cryptos, the text reflects a growing divide between advocates of strengthened state control and supporters of decentralized digital sovereignty. Although the chances of adoption remain limited in the short term, with the UDR having only 16 deputies out of 577, this initiative could open the way to parliamentary debates and force major parties to take a stance on an increasingly strategic issue.