One dead, Qonto in flames, Nuñez resigns: why the streets worry crypto investors

Three figures for a Monday morning. 2,397 arrests and 997 police and gendarmes injured after Saturday's mobilization, followed by a gap of 137 points between French and German debt. The Élysée refused this morning the resignation of Laurent Nuñez.

The streets are not a crypto issue, but investors gauge the social pulse of a country before placing their money, and this weekend provided a brutal reading. On Tuesday, the Assembly votes on the revenue part of the 2027 budget and the tax on conversions to stablecoins that it contains. This tax is just one line in a text that affects all households and on which the government of Sébastien Lecornu stakes its survival.

Key points of this article:

• On Tuesday, deputies will decide on the revenues of the 2027 budget, including the flat tax of 31.4% applied to crypto exchanges against stablecoins.
• The toll from October 17 rises to 2,397 arrests and one dead in Paris. The brand new Paris HQ of Qonto has partially burned.
• With a premium of 137 points against the Bund, Paris is already paying for its political crisis, as MiCA allows crypto companies to settle elsewhere in Europe.

One dead, town halls and Qonto in flames: the toll from October 17

The toll has doubled in forty-eight hours. On Saturday evening, Sébastien Lecornu announced about 1,200 arrests and 150 injured among law enforcement. On Sunday, the Ministry of the Interior counted 2,397 and 997, including seven seriously injured. In Paris, the police prefecture reported one dead, a victim of cardiac arrest under still unknown circumstances. The ministry recorded 550,000 demonstrators, while the CGT counted 800,000.

The town hall of Limoges, inaugurated in 1883, has burned. The Marseille town hall was forced open, and the residence of the prefect of Gironde was vandalized. In Paris, the new headquarters of Qonto was vandalized and then partially set on fire. The neobank had inaugurated this former post office of 11,000 square meters on September 24. It claims 750,000 business clients and is still awaiting its banking license from the ACPR.

Laurent Nuñez submitted his resignation to Emmanuel Macron. The Élysée refused it on Monday morning in the name of "the necessity of continuous command of law enforcement forces." The statement also points to "failures in anticipation and intelligence."

Why the streets weigh on the confidence of crypto investors

The demonstrators targeted neither bitcoin nor stablecoins. An investor looking to set up a team reads this weekend as a risk indicator, just like an interest rate. Ledger is located less than two kilometers from Qonto's headquarters. The company has been aware of this risk since the kidnapping of its co-founder David Balland in January 2025, the first episode in a series of crypto kidnappings.

And MiCA makes exit easy. A license obtained in a single member state is sufficient to serve all twenty-seven, and nothing obliges a platform to keep its headquarters in Paris to sell to French clients.

Bond markets have already made their decision. On Friday, October 16, the ten-year OAT closed at 4.79% compared to 3.42% for the German Bund, a gap of 137.4 basis points. It was 104 points on September 22. This OAT-Bund spread measures the premium demanded to hold French debt rather than German.

2027 Budget: the tax on stablecoins drowned in a survival vote

In this context, on Tuesday, October 20, deputies will vote by solemn ballot on the revenue part of the finance bill. The finance committee had rejected it on October 9 by 31 votes to 3. The text aims for a deficit of 5.0% of GDP in 2027, down from 5.4% in 2026.

Of its 88 articles, most concern all households. According to Bercy, the income tax scale is revalued by 2.1%, the 10% deduction for retirees capped at 3,000 euros compared to 4,439 today, and the auto insurance tax raised from 18% to 18.9%.

The tax on stablecoins is contained in an amendment, I-3898 by Nicolas Sansu (GDR), adopted in session on October 16. It subjects the conversion of a cryptocurrency into a MiCA-compliant stablecoin to the flat tax of 31.4% starting January 1, 2027. A rejection on Tuesday would carry it away with the rest, like the 2026 budget swept away by 404 votes to 1 on November 21, 2025.

The socialist group has submitted a prior rejection motion. Raphaël Glucksmann, a presidential candidate from the socialist primary, warns that "if the text does not change, there will be censorship." France Insoumise will submit a motion of censure in the event of 49.3. Roland Lescure does not rule out ordinances, possible if the budget is not adopted by December 17.

The PLFSS passes on October 27 and the overall budget vote on November 17. The crypto amendments of the 2027 budget have passed the committee and the session. They have three votes left before the Official Journal.

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