Dutch Legislators Move Forward with 36% Tax on Capital Gains from Cryptocurrency

Legislators in the Netherlands have made a significant move towards altering the taxation framework for digital assets.

The House of Representatives in the country voted on Thursday to progress legislation that would implement a 36% capital gains tax on savings and most liquid investments, which includes cryptocurrencies.

Key Takeaways:

• Dutch legislators have moved forward with a 36% tax on savings, stocks, and cryptocurrencies, encompassing unrealized gains.
• Opponents caution that the proposal may lead to investor migration and capital flight.
• The bill still needs Senate approval prior to its anticipated implementation in 2028.

The proposal passed the chamber with ease, garnering 93 votes, significantly surpassing the 75 needed to advance, as per the official count.

Netherlands Aims at Untaxed Crypto Gains in New Tax Initiative

If enacted, the measure would have a wide-ranging impact. Bank savings, cryptocurrency assets, most stocks, and returns from interest-earning instruments would all be subject to the tax.

Importantly, the tax would be levied regardless of whether investors sell their assets, implying that unrealized gains could also be taxed.

The Dutch Senate still needs to ratify the bill before it can be enacted. The targeted implementation is for the 2028 tax year, but investor responses have already been prompt.

Critics contend that the policy could drive wealth out of the nation. Some investors express concerns that high-net-worth individuals might move to regions with more favorable tax conditions, especially within the European Union where cross-border relocation is relatively easy.

Entrepreneur Denis Payre referenced historical examples, noting that France saw a significant exodus of businesses after introducing similar measures in the late 1990s.

Crypto analyst Michaël van de Poppe was even more direct, labeling the proposal as fundamentally flawed and forecasting considerable investor relocation.

The Netherlands has gone insane.
The government wants to tax unrealized gains on #Bitcoin from 2028 onwards.
I simply don’t understand why people are blindly accepting this and not going all-in to demonstrate against this particular law.
The amount of tax being paid each… pic.twitter.com/HIJhLl6qHq

— Michaël van de Poppe (@CryptoMichNL) January 23, 2026

Financial forecasts circulating among market participants highlight these concerns. Data from Investing Visuals indicates that an investor starting with €10,000 and contributing €1,000 monthly over 40 years could amass approximately €3.32 million without the tax.

With the proposed 36% tax, the final amount would decrease to around €1.885 million, representing a reduction of approximately €1.435 million.

This discussion mirrors similar debates occurring in other regions. In the United States, tech leaders and figures from the crypto sector have strongly opposed California’s proposed wealth tax on billionaires, with some entrepreneurs openly contemplating relocation.

While proponents assert that the Dutch initiative modernizes taxation across financial assets, detractors argue it could deter long-term investment and undermine the country’s attractiveness as a hub for fintech and digital asset enterprises.

The Senate’s ruling will determine if the proposal becomes one of the most stringent crypto tax frameworks in Europe.

Dutch Indirect Crypto Investments Reach €1.2B

As reported, Dutch involvement in cryptocurrency through financial securities has surged significantly over the last five years, reaching approximately €1.2 billion by October 2025, according to De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).

This growth is primarily attributed to the rising valuations of major digital assets rather than an influx of new investor capital.

Holdings were around €81 million at the close of 2020, illustrating how valuation increases have broadened crypto-related investments across households, institutions, and corporations.

Despite this rise, direct ownership of cryptocurrencies remains relatively limited among many investors.

Even with the increase, crypto securities account for only about 0.03% of the Netherlands’ total investment market, indicating that traditional assets continue to dominate investment portfolios.

Last year, the Dutch crypto company Amdax secured €30 million ($35 million) to establish the Amsterdam Bitcoin Treasury Strategy (AMBTS), a dedicated Bitcoin treasury firm aiming to acquire up to 1% of the total BTC supply, or roughly 210,000 Bitcoin.

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