French GAAP for Crypto: The ANC Rules in the PCG

A French company's statutory accounts do not follow IAS 38 or ASU 2023-08 at all. They run on the Plan Comptable Général as set by the Autorité des Normes Comptables, which has its own issuer-and-holder logic for tokens. This article maps the ANC regulations that govern crypto in French GAAP and the dates that matter, including the 2026 recast that becomes mandatory for 2027. It is the national-GAAP counterpart to the IFRS and US-GAAP treatments, and the two can run side by side in the same French group.

The French framework in brief

• French GAAP is neither IFRS nor US GAAP. A PCG company applies the ANC (base text Règlement ANC 2014-03), not IAS 38 or ASU 2023-08.
• Règlement ANC 2018-07 (10 December 2018) brought the token issuer-and-holder framework into the PCG.
• Règlement ANC 2020-05 (24 July 2020) added provisions for digital-asset services.
• A PCG recast took effect 1 January 2025; Règlement ANC 2026-01 (9 January 2026) recasts the crypto-asset section and is mandatory for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2027, with early application permitted.
• Issuer treatment follows the token's rights and obligations; holder treatment follows the intended use.
• A French group can hold a French-GAAP statutory basis and an IFRS consolidated basis at the same time.

The framework, and what it is not

A company keeping accounts under French GAAP applies the Plan Comptable Général (PCG) as issued and modified by the Autorité des Normes Comptables (ANC). The consolidated base text is Règlement ANC 2014-03; the crypto provisions are amendments to it. This is not the IFRS IAS 38 / IAS 2 model and not the US-GAAP ASU 2023-08 fair-value model. IFRS/US-GAAP crypto standards bind only entities reporting under those frameworks — typically a French group's IFRS consolidation, not its statutory accounts.

Règlement ANC 2018-07 — the issuer/holder framework

Dated 10 December 2018, Règlement ANC 2018-07 introduced token issuance (ICO) and token-holding accounting into the PCG.

Issuer (émetteur) — treatment follows the rights and obligations in the token's information document:

Holder (détenteur) — treatment follows the intended use:

• used within the current financial year → recorded as held tokens (jetons détenus);
• intended to be used beyond the current year → an intangible-asset account.

Règlement ANC 2020-05 — digital-asset services

Dated 24 July 2020, Règlement ANC 2020-05 extended the PCG with provisions for services on digital assets, broadening the scope beyond issuance and bare holding to service activity on digital assets.

The 2025 recast and Règlement ANC 2026-01

The PCG underwent a structural recast effective 1 January 2025 (consolidating and re-numbering provisions). Then Règlement ANC 2026-01, dated 9 January 2026, revises the PCG section dedicated to crypto-assets and equivalent items. Its application:

• Mandatory for fiscal years beginning on or after 1 January 2027;
• Early application permitted.

A French company should treat the 2026–2027 window as a planned transition, aligning its chart of accounts and policies during the optional period rather than at the mandatory cliff.

Why this matters for a French Web3 group

A French group commonly maintains two crypto carrying bases: the French-GAAP statutory accounts on the ANC/PCG rules (the basis for the FEC and the tax computation) and an IFRS consolidation on IAS 38/IAS 2. They will not agree, and that is expected. The statutory ANC basis is also the one that feeds the Fichier des Écritures Comptables and reconciles to the French tax position (see the BOFiP crypto references and Cerfa 2086 for the tax side).

Practical guidance

1. Identify the reporting framework per set of accounts — PCG statutory (ANC) vs IFRS consolidation.
2. Classify issuance by rights/obligations (liability / deferred income / acquired income).
3. Classify holdings by intended use (held-tokens vs intangible).
4. Plan the Règlement ANC 2026-01 transition in the 2026 early-application window, not at the 2027 mandatory date.
5. Keep the ANC statutory basis FEC-ready and reconciled to the tax computation.
6. Cite the exact règlement and date in your accounting memo (2018-07 / 2020-05 / 2026-01) — not an undated "the ANC says."

Choosing a tool for French statutory accounts

French statutory crypto accounting is the ANC rules plus a compliant Fichier des Écritures Comptables, not an IFRS export relabelled. If you are evaluating a tool — Cryptio and Request Finance can map crypto activity to a French chart of accounts — confirm it can:

• maintain a PCG/ANC statutory basis distinct from any IFRS consolidation basis;
• classify token issuance by rights and obligations and holdings by intended use, per Règlement ANC 2018-07;
• export FEC-compatible records that reconcile to the French tax computation;
• accommodate the chart-of-accounts changes the Règlement ANC 2026-01 transition will require.

How Wag3s fits in

Wag3s Ledger maps token issuance and holdings to the PCG under the ANC rules, keeps the statutory basis distinct from any IFRS consolidation basis, and produces FEC-ready records that reconcile to the French tax computation, including the chart-of-accounts changes for the Règlement ANC 2026-01 transition. The ANC regulations modify the PCG and carry specific effective dates, so Ledger produces the figures and the FEC that your expert-comptable reviews against the current consolidated PCG rather than substituting for that advice. See the Ledger product page and the Wag3s for accountants page.

Further reading

• IAS 38: Crypto as an Intangible Asset
• FASB ASU 2023-08: Fair-Value Crypto Accounting
• IFRS vs US GAAP for Crypto
• Crypto Audit Readiness
• BOFiP Crypto References 2026
• Cerfa 2086 Explained

Sources

• ANC — Règlement ANC n° 2018-07 du 10 décembre 2018: traitement comptable des jetons (émission/détention), modifiant le Règlement ANC 2014-03 (PCG).
• ANC — Règlement ANC n° 2026-01 du 9 janvier 2026: révision de la section « crypto-actifs et éléments assimilés », application obligatoire aux exercices ouverts à compter du 1er janvier 2027 (application anticipée possible). Règlement ANC n° 2020-05 du 24 juillet 2020 (services sur actifs numériques) et le PCG recast effective 1 January 2025 are reflected in the consolidated PCG.
• ANC — Comptabilisation des crypto-actifs: the ANC's official overview of crypto-asset accounting in French GAAP.
• ANC — Règlements de l'ANC: the authority's regulations index, including the base text Règlement ANC n° 2014-03 (Plan Comptable Général).