Bull Bitcoin is suing France to stop the EU's DAC8 directive, which it says forces a central register of millions of crypto users' identities and transactions – turning them into targets for robbery and kidnapping.
While the crypto industry has spent the past year adapting to the MiCA framework, another EU directive has received far less attention: DAC8. Since January 1, 2026, the directive has required European crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) to collect and hand over their users' identity and transaction data to national tax authorities, who then automatically exchange the information between EU/EEA countries. That makes the lawsuit especially notable: Bull Bitcoin was itself recently licensed under MiCA by France's financial regulator, AMF, yet is now launching a frontal attack on another piece of EU legislation.
"DAC8 has turned the concept of Know Your Customer into Kill Your Customer," says Francis Pouliot, CEO of Bull Bitcoin, in the press release.
Bull Bitcoin, recently granted its MiCA license by France's financial regulator AMF through its entity LEONOD SARL, has brought the case before the Conseil d'État – France's highest administrative court. The exchange is seeking to have the court annul Decree No. 2025-1276, the main mechanism transposing DAC8 into French law.
The company first filed a summary petition on February 24, 2026, followed by a full brief laying out the substantive arguments. According to Bull Bitcoin, the French lawsuit is only the first step in a broader push to suspend, delay, annul or amend both DAC8 and its global counterpart, CARF (Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework).
The lawsuit isn't just a matter of principle around privacy. Bull Bitcoin argues that building large, centralized databases containing users' full identity, address and complete transaction history – including transactions with no tax relevance whatsoever – creates a direct security risk for millions of Europeans.
The company points to the growing wave of targeted robberies and kidnappings of crypto holders in recent years, warning that such registers become attractive targets if the data leaks. Tax officials with access to the registers are also put at greater risk, according to the company. Since the data will be shared with tax authorities in every country covered by the exchange, Bull Bitcoin argues the exposure extends far beyond France's borders.
As part of the campaign, Bull Bitcoin has also launched the website dac8.com on the same day the lawsuit was made public. The portal is meant to gather facts, figures and official sources – such as EUR-Lex, OECD and Legifrance – in several European languages, serving as a resource for citizens, journalists and policymakers seeking to understand the directive.
"We cannot let the very foundations of our civilization be shattered by this attack on privacy rights. We must draw a line in the sand and refuse to cede any more territory before we have nothing left. Someone must take a stand. It appears that no one else is willing and able to do so. Therefore, it falls to BULL to lead this fight," says Pouliot.
Bull Bitcoin was founded in 2013 by Francis Pouliot and describes itself as the world's oldest Bitcoin-only and non-custodial crypto service, meaning the company never controls customers' private keys. It operates in Canada, Mexico and Europe, where its French business runs through LEONOD SARL. Bull Bitcoin says it is fully self-funded and has never raised outside capital or taken on debt.
Sources: Bull Bitcoin
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