While crypto is playing a growing role in the public debate, some have already mastered the ins and outs of crypto for years. Among them: Alexandre Lourimi, tax lawyer and co-founder of the firm ORWL. In this episode of the Cheat Code, he sheds light on the uses, challenges and risks of this sector.
Tax lawyer for seven years and co-founder of the firm ORWL, Alexandre Lourimi is one of the few lawyers in France to have specialized very early in the sector of Cryptocurrencies. An assumed choice, fuelled by his interest in a unit of account purely numerical Who can exchange freely.
Today, his firm supports innovative projects from Web3 as well as individuals lost in the face of a fiscal framework in motion.
For Alexandre Lourimi, it is impossible to understand crypto without going through the first of them: the Bitcoin.
He insists:
“A lot of people have preconceived opinions. But if you want to understand crypto, you have to look at bitcoin first.”
According to him, the buying motives are very diverse:
” There is no good reason to buy Bitcoin, there are a thousand, all personal ”, he summarizes.
The ORWL firm mainly intervenes when users do not know how to qualify their income or transactions:
Most are looking for concrete support to avoid mistakes, especially at a time when amounts In game become significant. Moreover, Alexandre Lourimi recalls a major change to come: The European DAC8 device, who, Starting from 2027, will require crypto platforms to transmit spontaneously to the tax authorities user transaction histories. A revolution for a sector long perceived as difficult to understand.
The heart of its customers: crypto projects.
He the accompanies on complex topics, corporate tax, VAT, various taxes, in an environment where crypto can be used for everything.
“Crypto is an asset that allows you to regulate all conceivable flows”, he explains.
For example:
The role of his office?
Reconciling the technical creativity of the projects and the tax and legal reporting requirements, often heavy and still under construction.
At theNational scale, crypto is still a secondary topic. But Alexandre Lourimi believes that France is progressing quite well:
“Politically, what's been done is not bad. But tax authorities need to go deeper to develop clearer rules.”
It also recalls a striking fact: Bitcoin has increased fivefold in two years, a sign of the growing importance of the phenomenon.
On the idea of a Sovereign blockchain, the lawyer is adamant: state-owned infrastructure would be of little interest. On the other hand, public uses on open blockchains and accessible to everyone, yes. For example for public records, certificates or digital evidence.
The sector attracts numerous frauds. For Alexandre Lourimi, the first reflexes are simple:
He insists:
“There are a lot of good sources, but also a lot of pitfalls.”
And for some products utterly speculative, like tokens thrown around political figures, it slices:
“No interest except speculative.”
