PARIS, July 8 (Lightning.News) — Bull Bitcoin, the world’s oldest Bitcoin‑only non‑custodial exchange, has petitioned France’s high court to strike down the European Union’s DAC8 crypto tax reporting directive.
In a press release, CEO Francis Pouliot calls DAC8 a blueprint for mass surveillance and a direct threat to the safety of millions of crypto‑asset holders. “DAC8 has transformed the concept of Know Your Customer into Kill Your Customer” said Pouliot.
The company, recently licensed under MiCA by France’s markets regulator (AMF) has filed a legal challenge before the Conseil d’État, France’s supreme administrative court, seeking to annul Decree No. 2025-1276, the main measure transposing the European DAC8 directive into French law.
In parallel, Bull Bitcoin is launching dac8.com, a multilingual reference site aimed at citizens, journalists and policymakers looking for a fully sourced overview of the new regime.
Since January 1, 2026, DAC8 (Directive (EU) 2023/2226) has forced European crypto‑asset service providers (CASPs) such as Bull Bitcoin to systematically collect and transmit identity and transaction data for millions of users to national tax authorities, which then automatically exchange the data across EU member states. According to the company, the danger lies in the creation of a vast database linking legal identities, home addresses and detailed transaction histories, including movements that have no material relevance to tax calculations.
Bull Bitcoin argues that this architecture is being deployed against a backdrop of daily data leaks and a surge in kidnappings targeting crypto‑asset holders, turning DAC8 into a physical security risk for users and their families. It says civil servants with access to the data will themselves become targets for criminals seeking to obtain and exploit the information, which will be shared with tax administrations “far beyond France” under cross‑border exchange arrangements. 
“DAC8 has transformed the concept of Know Your Customer into Kill Your Customer,” said Francis Pouliot, CEO of Bull Bitcoin. He warned that the combination of centralized identity‑transaction databases, cross‑border data sharing and existing patterns of government data breaches, internal corruption and illegal resale raises a fundamental question: whether citizens are prepared to have their personal information accessible to a broad array of third parties in multiple jurisdictions.
On February 24, 2026, Bull Bitcoin filed a summary petition before the Conseil d’État, followed by a detailed substantive brief setting out its legal arguments. The company describes this case as only the first front in a broader campaign, stating that it intends to pursue every legitimate avenue to suspend, delay, annul or amend the effects of DAC8 and its global counterpart, the OECD’s Crypto‑Asset Reporting Framework (CARF).
“We cannot let the very foundations of civilization be shattered by this attack on privacy rights,” Pouliot said, framing the challenge as a line‑in‑the‑sand moment for financial privacy. “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 Bitcoin to lead this fight.”
The newly launched dac8.com aggregates facts, figures, official documentation and analysis related to DAC8 and CARF, drawing on sources such as EUR‑Lex, the OECD and France’s Legifrance portal. The site is available in French, English and other European languages, and is positioned as a central resource for understanding both the technical scope and societal implications of the directive.
