French Millionaires Flee: Why Crypto and Wealth Are Landing in the Same Place
The rats are leaving the ship. Two reports, two different audiences, one destination. On one side, the wealthy French that Henley & Partners, a firm specializing in residence and citizenship by investment, sees fleeing to more predictable jurisdictions. On the other, crypto companies that the European MiCA regulation has literally pushed out since July 1. Two movements of capital, two timelines, two administrations at the root of the problem. And yet, on the world map, the arrows invariably converge on the same point: the United Arab Emirates. This report reconstructs the complete thread of this dual exodus, from contradictory figures to the undeniable quotas of approvals.
Key points of this article:
The United Arab Emirates have attracted both wealthy French individuals and crypto companies seeking fiscal and regulatory stability.
The European MiCA regulation has pushed many crypto companies to leave Europe, enhancing the appeal of the UAE as a preferred destination.
Exodus of Millionaires: The Report That Upsets Bercy {#h-exodus-of-millionaires-the-report-that-upsets-bercy}
On June 16, 2026, Henley & Partners published the new edition of its Private Wealth Migration Report, with a rethought methodology: a mobility competitiveness score out of 100, calculated from 38 weighted indicators (taxation, rule of law, quality of life, geopolitical stability). France scores 65.7, ranking it among the <<**competitive jurisdictions under pressure**>>, alongside Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. The United Arab Emirates, on the other hand, peak at 85.3, one of the best scores in the global ranking, even ahead of Singapore.
The requests for residence or citizenship submitted by French nationals to the firm have moved from the top 40 of client nationalities in 2024 to the top 15 in 2026. In fact, according to Guenther Dobrauz-Saldapenna, Head of Europe at Henley & Partners:
<< France has not become unattractive. It has become less competitive, precisely on the criteria that internationally mobile wealth weighs most heavily. >>
A nuance that changes everything: this is not a panic exodus, but a patient arbitration, conducted by families treating tax residence as a line in their portfolio among others.
The previous edition of the report, published in 2025, provided a more blunt figure: a net loss of about 800 millionaires in France over the year, each taking away several million euros on average. The tax pressure on high incomes (the differential contribution of 20% targeting households earning over 250,000 euros annually), chronic governmental instability, and the recurring prospect of a wealth tax in the style of Zucman explain most of this movement.
The Turnover of Millionaires {#h-the-turnover-of-millionaires}
However, let us be cautious with the figures. Two weeks after Henley, on June 30, 2026, the Swiss bank UBS published its own Global Wealth Report 2026. And its verdict on France is, on the surface, exactly the opposite: the country created about 35,000 new millionaires in dollars in 2025, the highest growth in the entire European Union, bringing the total to nearly 2.4 million wealthy residents.
Two serious reports, two results that seem to contradict each other outright. Except that they do not measure the same thing. UBS counts the total wealth held by French residents, inflated by rising stock and real estate markets: people become millionaires on paper without ever leaving their living rooms. Henley, on the other hand, tracks a much narrower flow: the large internationally mobile fortunes that actively change their tax residence. France is becoming wealthier overall while losing its most mobile segment, which precisely has the means and networks to leave. A country can very well create thousands of millionaires while its hundred or thousand largest fortunes are packing their bags.
And what about cryptocurrencies?
At the end of October 2025, the National Assembly voted, with 163 votes against 150, on an amendment transforming the real estate wealth tax (IFI) into an expanded tax on "unproductive wealth". On the agenda: Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, and NFTs, treated the same as a yacht or a masterpiece, with a flat rate of 1% above a wealth threshold. The Senate then proposed its own version, raising the threshold to 2.57 million euros.
Neither version survived the forceful passage of 49.3. As we explained in January, the Lecornu government removed these two provisions from the final version of the 2026 budget, adopted on January 22.
Crypto has thus been spared, but not exempted for life: a stay of one budgetary exercise, obtained by a handful of votes, and which the Senate has already shown it could revive in a competing form the following year. For a crypto asset holder closely following this issue, vigilance remains essential with each new budget.
MiCA, the Second Front of the Millionaire Exodus
While Paris was hesitating over individual taxation, a second movement, this time entirely regulatory, was reshaping the map of European crypto companies. July 1, 2026 marked the end of the transitional period of MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets), the European regulation that governs the sector. Of the 117 French platforms registered under the old PSAN status, only 83 obtained their European approval on time, with Binance being the first to be rejected, forced to suspend its services to French clients. Across the continent, only 244 MiCA licenses had been issued by the end of June, with Germany leading the way with 57 approvals.
Erald Ghoos, the head of OKX Europe, stated in early July a staggering figure: 80% of crypto companies would not survive MiCA. Immediate result: Coinbase and OKX launched a bonus war, up to 8% of transferred deposits, to recover some of the 450 million European users left stranded by Binance. But for the smaller founders, without the financial backing to absorb two years of compliance, exit often remains the only option.
Irina Heaver, a lawyer at NeosLegal in Dubai, receives more than 120 requests per week from entrepreneurs wanting to settle in the Emirates, half of whom come from Europe. "The requests from European founders have exploded," she confides. "They are looking to move their wealth and intellectual potential to a country that welcomes them with open arms." Her formula on the origin of the problem is quite biting: "When you entrust the foxes with writing the laws that protect the hens, you get MiCA."
Dubai, a one-stop shop for both fortunes
Here lies the crux of the matter: the United Arab Emirates is reaping the benefits on both sides, for reasons that overlap yet are not identical. On the classic wealth side, it has been the world's number one destination for wealth migration for the past two years, driven by the absence of income tax and capital gains tax.
On the crypto side, the Crypto Wealth Report from the same firm, Henley, lists 241,700 individuals holding over one million dollars in digital assets worldwide, an increase of 40% in one year. There is zero tax on trading, staking, or mining, a dedicated regulatory authority (VARA) since 2022, more than 650 blockchain companies established within the DMCC Crypto Centre in Dubai, and direct access to a market of four billion potential customers in Asia and North Africa.
Two flows of capital, two administrative timelines, one destination that is patiently building its one-stop shop for mobile wealth, whether it sleeps in a securities account or in a cold wallet.
What drives crypto millionaires away?
The most common reading of this news usually stops at one of the two angles: either the angle of "the rich fleeing taxes," or the angle of "crypto fleeing regulation." However, both feed off the same soil, that of a French and European fiscal and regulatory framework deemed unpredictable, revised each budgetary year according to the shifting parliamentary power dynamics.
The reprieve granted to crypto in January did not resolve the underlying issues: it simply showed that a handful of voices is enough to shift an entire asset class into the scope of a new tax overnight. As long as this uncertainty persists, MiCA will continue to fuel the same current towards Dubai that has already swept away 800 traditional fortunes last year. Two exoduses, one port of arrival.
This content is provided for general informational purposes only and doesn't constitute financial, investment, legal, or tax advice. Any events, rewards, online promotions, or related information mentioned herein should not be considered a recommendation, solicitation, or invitation to purchase, sell, trade, or otherwise deal in any crypto assets. Crypto assets are highly volatile and may result in loss. The availability of WEEX services, products, and related events may vary by region. You are responsible for ensuring that your participation is in accordance with applicable local laws and regulations.
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