Greece prepares 15% crypto tax regime for local market

Greece’s Finance Ministry is drafting a bill that would impose a 15% capital gains tax on cryptocurrency profits.

The information was reportedly shared with Reuters by some government officials. If the bill is passed, it would bring digital assets into the country’s formal tax code for the first time.

It is expected to reach parliament in the coming months.

A tax-free threshold and carve-outs for individual miners

The planned regime includes a 500-euro ($580) exemption on gains, meaning residents would owe nothing on their first profits up to that amount, according to one of the officials.

Individual cryptocurrency miners would also be exempt from the new levy; however, that exemption was not extended to corporations engaged in mining.

Both officials acknowledged a practical challenge, which is that estimating the size of Greece’s crypto market is difficult. This is because most Greek investors trade through platforms based outside the country. 

No specific revenue projection for the new tax has been published.

Where Greece fits in Europe’s crypto tax patchwork

EU member states each set their own rules on taxing digital assets, and the rates vary across the states. 

Cyprus charges 8% on crypto capital gains at the low end, while France applies rates as high as 30%. Greece’s proposed 15% would bring it close to the middle of that range.

This proposed bill is also coming at a time when Athens is working to bring its own crypto regulatory framework up to the EU’s set standards. 

Last August, the Hellenic Capital Market Commission (HCMC) overhauled its licensing regime for exchanges and wallet providers to align with the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, as Cryptopolitan reported at the time. 

The rules require that platforms must clear a formal licensing process that can take up to 40 working days, and unlicensed providers are barred from offering services in the country.

How does Binance’s bet on Athens come into the picture?

Greece’s regulatory push carries extra weight because Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange by volume, chose the country as its EU base earlier this year. 

Binance co-CEO Richard Teng cited Greece’s talent pool and security environment when explaining the decision at the Global Finance & Technology Network forum in Tokyo, according to Reuters and Greek broadcaster ERT. 

The company applied for a MiCA license through the HCMC in January, and Greek regulators signaled they would fast-track the review, Cryptopolitan reported in February.

The tax legislation would add another layer to an environment Athens is building to attract crypto business while ensuring oversight. 

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made his intentions to regulate the “dubious” crypto market known as early as January 2025. He reportedly told cabinet members the government aimed to “bring order to a largely ambiguous and unregulated domain.”

Passive income taxed differently

The Waltio tax guide for Greece outlines the current Greek framework, pointing out that gains from staking, mining, and airdrops fall under the progressive income tax scale rather than the flat 15% rate.

That scale runs from 9% on the first 10,000 euros of income to 44% on amounts above 40,000 euros. Crypto-to-crypto swaps also count as taxable events, with the gain calculated at the moment of the exchange.

Capital losses can be carried forward for five years to offset future gains, and the filing deadline for crypto-related income is June 30 of the year following the tax period, according to Waltio’s summary of the legislation.

The proposal is not final 

The bill still needs to clear parliament, and final details could shift before submission. Investors trading through foreign platforms face an open question about enforcement, given that Greek authorities have acknowledged limited visibility into offshore activity. 

The July 2026 MiCA licensing deadline for crypto firms across the EU will add further pressure on Athens to have its tax and regulatory framework fully in place.