The Fight Against DAC8 Is Spreading Across Europe

The fight against DAC8 began in France, and it is now spreading across Europe. In February 2026, Bull Bitcoin opened the first legal front against the directive before France's Conseil d'État, the country's highest administrative court. In October 2026, Bitcoin Austria, an independent non-profit association active in Vienna since 2011, opened the second one in Austria. Two Member States out of 27 now have a legal challenge against DAC8, and we intend to make sure they will not be the last.

DAC8, Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226, brings crypto-assets into the EU's automatic exchange of tax information: data on the identity and crypto activity of users is reported to national tax authorities and shared between all 27 Member States, without any suspicion of wrongdoing. Both legal challenges ask the same question, which is whether such blanket collection is compatible with the fundamental rights to privacy and to the protection of personal data.

Bitcoin Austria opens the second front against DAC8

At the initiative of Bitcoin Austria, attorney Dr. Oliver Völkel, a partner at the Vienna law firm CERHA HEMPEL, filed a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority (Datenschutzbehörde) in October 2026. He filed it as the customer of a crypto provider, objecting to the processing of his data for DAC8. On paper, the complaint targets that processing, but in substance it targets the law behind it: DAC8 and the Austrian act that transposes it.

This route was chosen deliberately. In Austria, a law can only be brought directly before the Constitutional Court when no other reasonable path exists, and anyone who objects to the processing of their personal data has such a path: a complaint to the Data Protection Authority, an appeal to the Federal Administrative Court (Bundesverwaltungsgericht), and then the Constitutional Court (Verfassungsgerichtshof), which can refer the directive itself to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

On 2 November 2026, Bitcoin Austria launched dac8.org to explain the case and to finance it through donations. The full legal reasoning is set out on its proceedings page.

Three questions for the courts

Bitcoin Austria's complaint starts from one concrete case and asks three questions that apply to every crypto user in Europe.

The first is whether the state may demand this data at all. Under DAC8 and the Austrian law, information on every customer is compiled for the tax office, without any suspicion, and each report is kept for ten years, which raises a direct question under the fundamental right to data protection.

The second is whether the tax office actually needs this data. Bitcoin Austria points out that the yearly report usually includes how much a customer transfers to their own wallet, as a total without wallet addresses, even though moving your Bitcoin into self-custody is no more a taxable event than withdrawing cash from your bank.

The third is whether the same goal could be reached with less. Any interference with fundamental rights must be necessary and proportionate, and milder options already exist inside the EU: Germany and the Netherlands only require the data to be compiled for customers whose information actually goes to the tax office, and Ireland generally keeps it for six years instead of ten.

The Austrian precedent: how data retention was struck down

Austria has done this before. In 2012, a challenge organised by the civil rights group AKVorrat, now epicenter.works, took the EU's data retention rules to the Austrian Constitutional Court, which referred the questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Telephone and internet providers had been required to store for six months who contacted whom and when, for every customer and without any suspicion. In April 2014, the Court of Justice declared the data retention directive invalid, and in June 2014 the Constitutional Court struck down the Austrian rules. The logic of collecting data on everyone just in case is the same one DAC8 now applies to crypto.

Where Bull Bitcoin's case before the Conseil d'État stands

Bull Bitcoin filed its petition before the Conseil d'État on 24 February 2026 against Decree No. 2025-1276, the main French text transposing DAC8, and developed its legal arguments in a supplementary brief on 22 May 2026. An application for interim suspension was refused on 14 September 2026, without the court examining the lawfulness of the decree, and the case on the merits continues. Bull Bitcoin asks the Conseil d'État to refer the validity of the directive to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the same destination the Austrian case is heading for.

You can read how it began in our announcement of the petition and follow every step of the case on dac8.com.

Why a second front matters

DAC8 is the same directive in all 27 Member States, so the question at its heart is the same everywhere: may tax authorities hold data on the crypto activity of every user, without any suspicion, just in case? Under EU law, only the Court of Justice of the European Union can declare a directive invalid, and national courts are the way to reach it. Each new case brings its own judges, its own legal system and its own arguments to that single question, which makes the challenge harder to set aside and gives it more than one path to Luxembourg.

When Francis Pouliot launched this campaign, he wrote in his manifesto: "We might succeed, or we might fail. But the only thing I can guarantee you is that we will never give up." Bitcoin Austria's decision to take the fight to its own courts shows that we are no longer fighting alone.

Join the European front against DAC8

DAC8 has been transposed in all 27 Member States, which means it can be challenged in every one of them. We invite associations, lawyers and industry players to bring this fight to their own country and to join the European front. Every new case adds weight to the same question, and every new country brings the directive closer to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

• See the map of the European front and get in touch: dac8.com/en/european-front

FAQ

Who is challenging DAC8 in court?

Two legal challenges against DAC8 are under way in the European Union. Bull Bitcoin filed the first one before France's Conseil d'État in February 2026, against the decree that transposes DAC8 into French law. Bitcoin Austria, a non-profit association based in Vienna, opened the second one in October 2026 with a complaint to the Austrian Data Protection Authority.

What is Bitcoin Austria's case against DAC8?

At the initiative of Bitcoin Austria, attorney Dr. Oliver Völkel of CERHA HEMPEL filed a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority, as the customer of a crypto provider, against the processing of his data for DAC8. In substance, it targets the Austrian transposition law and the directive itself, and it can go on to the Federal Administrative Court, the Constitutional Court and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Where does Bull Bitcoin's case before the Conseil d'État stand?

Bull Bitcoin filed its petition against Decree No. 2025-1276 on 24 February 2026 and a supplementary brief on 22 May 2026. Interim suspension was refused on 14 September 2026 without the court examining the lawfulness of the decree. The case on the merits continues, and Bull Bitcoin asks for the validity of DAC8 to be referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Can DAC8 be challenged in other EU countries?

Yes. Each Member State has transposed DAC8 into its own law, and each transposition can be challenged before national courts. Under EU law, only the Court of Justice of the European Union can declare the directive invalid, and national courts can refer the question to it.

How can I support the fight against DAC8?

Associations, lawyers and industry players can contact the campaign through dac8.com to bring a case in their own country, and anyone can support Bitcoin Austria's case through dac8.org. Sharing the campaign also helps more people understand what is at stake.