DeFi taxation: staking, lending, liquidity pools and airdrops

Updated on 21 September 2026

Decentralised finance (DeFi) generates income that the French General Tax Code did not anticipate: staking rewards, loan interest, pool fees, distributed governance tokens. The tax authorities have not published detailed doctrine for each of these operations. Here is where things stand, without false certainty.

The foundation: tax deferral on swaps between cryptos

Depositing tokens into a protocol, receiving a receipt token (aToken, LP token, a liquid staking token such as stETH), then handing it back: these movements stay between digital assets. According to the majority reading, they fall under the tax deferral on swaps between cryptos, and tax only applies on conversion into euros (see crypto taxation in France).

Staking

Two readings coexist for staking rewards:

• taxation on disposal only, under article 150 VH bis, with the tokens received entering the portfolio at a zero acquisition cost: this is the most common position among practitioners;
• taxation on receipt, as income (BNC), at the day's value, argued by some advisers, particularly for an organised validation activity.

Whatever the choice, what matters in a tax audit is consistency from one year to the next and the ability to produce the history of rewards. The details, case by case: staking and taxes.

Lending and borrowing

Interest received in crypto on a lending protocol (Aave, Compound, Morpho, Kamino…) follows in practice the same logic as staking. Borrowing stablecoins against crypto collateral is not a disposal: it is a common way to get liquidity without triggering tax. A liquidation of the collateral, on the other hand, may constitute a disposal.

Liquidity pools and yield farming

Adding two tokens to a pool (Uniswap, Curve, Raydium, Osmosis…) and then withdrawing them is in principle still a swap between digital assets. Pool fees and farming tokens received are gains in crypto, treated like staking. Impermanent loss, however, is not a deductible capital loss as long as no disposal for euros has taken place.

Airdrops

(The details and a worked example: airdrops and taxes.) An airdrop obtained for nothing in return (received without doing anything for it) is not taxed on receipt: it enters the portfolio at an acquisition cost of zero, and its sale for euros is taxed like any disposal (art. 150 VH bis, flat tax (PFU)). An airdrop that rewards an action on your part (points, quests, tasks, promotion) falls rather under BNC in the year of receipt, for its value on receipt, a value which is then added to the total acquisition cost. The BOFiP does not settle this case (BOI-RPPM-PVBMC-30-20 § 80 only covers inheritances and gifts); the distinction is the one made in the Waltio × ORWL Avocats white paper (2024). The overview lists your airdrops by year, with their value on receipt and the BNC base alongside, in the Taxes tab.

Documenting your positions

The real risk in DeFi is not the rate, it is thelack of supporting records : without a history, it is impossible to calculate the overall portfolio value or to prove an acquisition cost. Bilan DeFi rebuilds, position by position, deposits, withdrawals, yields collected, losses and fees, in euros, directly from the blockchain. See what DeFi tracking covers.

Frequently asked questions

Is staking taxable in France?

There is no detailed official doctrine. Most practitioners tax rewards when they are converted into euros, with a zero acquisition cost; a minority of advisers recommend taxing them on receipt as income.

Is depositing crypto into a DeFi protocol a disposal?

According to the majority reading, no: a deposit against a receipt token remains an exchange between digital assets, with tax deferred.

Is impermanent loss deductible?

Not as such. For tax purposes, it only shows through the portfolio value at the time of a taxable disposal for euros.

General information, not tax advice. The rules change with every finance act and depend on your situation. For a complex case (regular activity, large amounts, a tax audit), have it checked by a chartered accountant or a tax lawyer.