France lowers foreign ownership threshold for sensitive firms to 10%, with crypto explicitly in scope

France just made it significantly harder for non-European investors to buy their way into the country’s most sensitive industries. A decree enacted on August 2, 2026, drops the foreign direct investment screening threshold from 25% to 10% of voting rights, meaning the French Economy Ministry now gets a say on deals that would have previously flown under the radar. Here’s the thing that should catch crypto investors’ attention: cryptology is explicitly listed among the sensitive sectors covered by the new rules. That puts blockchain infrastructure companies, encryption firms, and potentially a range of Web3 ventures squarely in the regulatory crosshairs. What actually changed The mechanics are straightforward. Previously, the Economy Ministry only stepped in when a foreign company acquired 25% or more of a French business in a sensitive sector. That threshold has been slashed to 10% for non-European investors. The 10% figure isn’t entirely new. France first introduced it as a temporary measure for listed companies during the COVID-19 pandemic, when governments across Europe were scrambling to prevent opportunistic foreign acquisitions of distressed firms. That temporary threshold wa...