Should BTC amounts greater than 10.000E be declared when leaving the country?

[GazetaBitcoin]

I know there is a law which forbids leaving the country if you carry with you more than 10.000 euros. Actually, the law forbids avoiding to declare amounts greater than 10.000 euros and, if caught, the money are confiscated and a criminal investigation is started by authorities. As far as I know, a similar US law was issued in the past, but the amount in question was 10.000$.

However, my question relates to situation in Europe, not in US.

If any has legal knowledge, I'd like to know if you can leave the country (any European country) and enter in another (European) country while carrying with you a wallet containing BTC worth of more than 10.000 euros, without declaring it. Should a BTC wallet be declared at custom office? And what if that wallet is a software wallet... a mobile wallet? What happens if you don't declare it? They can't see that you have an app on your mobile phone, which is a BTC wallet, right? Even if a custom officer would be too zealous and search travelers' phones, looking for crypto wallets (which I highly doubt), a user can always just delete de app and reinstall it once arrived at destination, right? And there simply restore the wallet.

I don't know... is this illegal? Is it legal? Has anyone encountered with such situation? I am trying to understand how law works (or should work) in such cases. As far as I know, since a country does not accept BTC as legal tender, nobody should declare any crypto wallet he has on his phone nor if it is a hardware wallet as, in front of the State, he is not carrying money with him. Maybe I'm wrong though.

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[jackg]

I think it depends on what your intentions are in the country you're travelling to. If you plan to use (unlock) your wallet while you're there then yes.

I found a Swedish travel site that says:

Besides notes and coins, “cash and equivalent assets” is also defined as traveller’s cheques, cheques, promissory notes, debt instruments, debentures, shares, money orders and securities.

https://www.tullverket.se/en/startpage/private/travelling/travelling/travellingwithcashandorequivalentassets.4.311bf4f016e69d6ea0d9df.html

I'm thinking bitcoin is closest related to cheques (and at that probably cashiers cheques or similar - when the cheque pays you - where it's money that represents legal tender but not officially issued by the government).


If you're not going to unlock your wallet or spend funds from it then I think it's unlikely you have to tell anyone. I also think you'd probably be safe unlocking your wallet to send funds to an exchange in your home country, converting your crypto to that currency and paying using your bank card for things (but you may be safer holding funds on an exchange as you travel as it'll be considered similar to a bank account then).

[LoyceV]

However, my question relates to situation in Europe, not in US.

I've been wondering about this too, but I'm mainly curious if I'd have to declare Bitcoin hodlings when entering the US. Within Schengen/EU, I'm not so worried about it.

Even if a custom officer would be too zealous and search travelers' phones, looking for crypto wallets (which I highly doubt), a user can always just delete de app and reinstall it once arrived at destination, right? And there simply restore the wallet.

What if you just wrote 12 seed words on a piece of paper? What if you memorized the 12 words?

As far as I know, since a country does not accept BTC as legal tender, nobody should declare any crypto wallet he has on his phone nor if it is a hardware wallet as, in front of the State, he is not carrying money with him. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Gold isn't legal tender, and yet, this Italian was arrested smuggling 6 gold bars on Schiphol.

A more fundamental question is: do you carry Bitcoin? One could argue you don't carry it: Bitcoin doesn't exist on an address, it exists only on the blockchain. How is that different than bringing my online banking credentials, which allows me to transfer more than €10,000?

[HeRetiK]

I don't think you have to declare the contents of your Bitcoin wallet. After all it's not different from having access to a bank account with a balance in excess of EUR 10,000,-.

It is also worth noting that when shares and securities are mentioned as "cash or equivalent assets" that have to be declared, they are referring to the physical certificates. Otherwise folks would have to declare their investment bank accounts.

I think they might be able to make a case if you were to carry physical bitcoins or paper wallets. But arguably even that would be on shaky grounds unless the material value exceeds the 10k. (ie. you can sell a physical security only once. You can cash out a cheque only once. But if you're kind of a dick you could sell the same paper wallet to multiple, unsuspecting buyers and even empty it out afterwards)

[bmwister]

I know there is a law which forbids leaving the country if you carry with you more than 10.000 euros. Actually, the law forbids avoiding to declare amounts greater than 10.000 euros and, if caught, the money are confiscated and a criminal investigation is started by authorities. As far as I know, a similar US law was issued in the past, but the amount in question was 10.000$.

However, my question relates to situation in Europe, not in US.

If any has legal knowledge, I'd like to know if you can leave the country (any European country) and enter in another (European) country while carrying with you a wallet containing BTC worth of more than 10.000 euros, without declaring it. Should a BTC wallet be declared at custom office? And what if that wallet is a software wallet... a mobile wallet? What happens if you don't declare it? They can't see that you have an app on your mobile phone, which is a BTC wallet, right? Even if a custom officer would be too zealous and search travelers' phones, looking for crypto wallets (which I highly doubt), a user can always just delete de app and reinstall it once arrived at destination, right? And there simply restore the wallet.

I don't know... is this illegal? Is it legal? Has anyone encountered with such situation? I am trying to understand how law works (or should work) in such cases. As far as I know, since a country does not accept BTC as legal tender, nobody should declare any crypto wallet he has on his phone nor if it is a hardware wallet as, in front of the State, he is not carrying money with him. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Topic is self-moderated for avoiding spam.

Every country has its own laws. It all depends on which country you are leaving and which country you are planning to visit. For example, you can import into France without declaring an amount not exceeding 10,000 euros. This includes not only cash in euros, but also all cash in any currency.

As far as I know, the "Ten Thousand Rule" applies to all EU countries; however, when entering the EU, it is advisable to clarify the procedure for transporting cash for a particular country.

There is a law in Europe that states: "Any natural person entering or leaving the EU and carrying cash of a value of €10,000 or more is required to declare that amount to the competent authorities of the Member State through which he/she is entering or leaving the EU."

But given that there is currently no single law regulating cryptocurrencies in Europe, I believe that the contents of a Bitcoin wallet do not need to be declared.

[zasad@]

I know there is a law which forbids leaving the country if you carry with you more than 10.000 euros. Actually, the law forbids avoiding to declare amounts greater than 10.000 euros and, if caught, the money are confiscated and a criminal investigation is started by authorities. As far as I know, a similar US law was issued in the past, but the amount in question was 10.000$.

However, my question relates to situation in Europe, not in US.

If any has legal knowledge, I'd like to know if you can leave the country (any European country) and enter in another (European) country while carrying with you a wallet containing BTC worth of more than 10.000 euros, without declaring it. Should a BTC wallet be declared at custom office? And what if that wallet is a software wallet... a mobile wallet? What happens if you don't declare it? They can't see that you have an app on your mobile phone, which is a BTC wallet, right? Even if a custom officer would be too zealous and search travelers' phones, looking for crypto wallets (which I highly doubt), a user can always just delete de app and reinstall it once arrived at destination, right? And there simply restore the wallet.

I don't know... is this illegal? Is it legal? Has anyone encountered with such situation? I am trying to understand how law works (or should work) in such cases. As far as I know, since a country does not accept BTC as legal tender, nobody should declare any crypto wallet he has on his phone nor if it is a hardware wallet as, in front of the State, he is not carrying money with him. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Topic is self-moderated for avoiding spam.

The main principle of the legislation says: "Everything that is not prohibited is allowed." (C) But this principle does not apply to employees of state bodies.
And then you can argue for a long time about whether you are obliged to say at the border that you know by heart the seed phrase from a cryptocurrency wallet that stores, for example, $ 10,000,000. In my country, common sense and personal safety should come first.

[GazetaBitcoin]

I think it depends on what your intentions are in the country you're travelling to. If you plan to use (unlock) your wallet while you're there then yes.

I found a Swedish travel site that says:

Besides notes and coins, “cash and equivalent assets” is also defined as traveller’s cheques, cheques, promissory notes, debt instruments, debentures, shares, money orders and securities.

I'm thinking bitcoin is closest related to cheques

Thanks for the link. However, there is no clear statement of the term cryptocurrency... In some fields (in banking, for example) it's written in plain sight that you are not allowed to use the account for incomes obtained from crypto. Therefore I'm thinking that if in some fields the term crypto (or cryptocurrency) is used, it should be also used in case it influences somehow passing the border...

If you're not going to unlock your wallet or spend funds from it then I think it's unlikely you have to tell anyone. I also think you'd probably be safe unlocking your wallet to send funds to an exchange in your home country, converting your crypto to that currency and paying using your bank card for things (but you may be safer holding funds on an exchange as you travel as it'll be considered similar to a bank account then).

I never used a centralized exchange nor I ever will They are pure evil and you expose yourself to very high risks by using them. What I was thinking about was a possible situation when someone simply wants to have some backup money crypto with him and, in case he runs out of cash, he could go to a cash-in / cash-out crypto ATM and exchange some crypto with fiat.

The part about not going to spend funds from the wallet and if so there would not be any need to say anything to anyone -- what difference would it make even if they would question you (assuming that they (custom officers) would find out somehow that you're carrying a crypto wallet), then you'd tell them you don't intend to use it and still use it at a crypto ATM? Or at a local shop or restaurant which could accept crypto payments? Nobody would know that you made that transaction, right?

By the way, thinking about this a funny pic came into my mind:

I've been wondering about this too, but I'm mainly curious if I'd have to declare Bitcoin hodlings when entering the US. Within Schengen/EU, I'm not so worried about it.

Just curious, what makes you feel safer in Europe, if you would be in this situation?

What if you just wrote 12 seed words on a piece of paper? What if you memorized the 12 words?

This would be even easier

A more fundamental question is: do you carry Bitcoin? One could argue you don't carry it: Bitcoin doesn't exist on an address, it exists only on the blockchain. How is that different than bringing my online banking credentials, which allows me to transfer more than €10,000?

That's a very good question... But, honestly, what do you think the outcome would be in case someone (caught by a customs officer with an undeclared BTC wallet holding more than the equivalent of 10.000E) would try to have this debate with the customs officer? It's hard to imagine the custom officer would have the necessary knowledge or the will to understand that, in fact, you don't physically have BTC, but you only poses private keys which allow you move some coins, if you want to.

It is also worth noting that when shares and securities are mentioned as "cash or equivalent assets" that have to be declared, they are referring to the physical certificates. Otherwise folks would have to declare their investment bank accounts.

I think they might be able to make a case if you were to carry physical bitcoins or paper wallets

This is what I'm also thinking...

then you can argue for a long time about whether you are obliged to say at the border that you know by heart the seed phrase from a cryptocurrency wallet that stores, for example, $ 10,000,000.

I made some checks but not even Google is able to answer to this question. However, this is what I found about European Union Cash Controls:

As part of the EU’s efforts to tackle money laundering and the financing of terrorism, all travellers entering or leaving EU territory are already obliged to complete a cash declaration when carrying EUR 10 000 or more (or equivalent in other currencies, bonds, shares or travellers’ cheques). Customs authorities are empowered to check persons, their luggage and their means of transport. They are also empowered to detain undeclared cash. [...]

1) The definition of ‘cash’ in the rules will be extended to include certain other valuable items.

This means that as of that date, you must lodge a cash declaration if you are carrying EUR 10 000 (or its equivalent in other currencies) or more in value of one or more of the following items included under the new definition of cash, when entering or leaving the EU:

    Banknotes and coins (including currency now out of general circulation but that can still be exchanged in a financial institution or central bank),
    Bearer negotiable instruments such as cheques, travellers’ cheques, promissory notes and money orders,
    Gold coins with a gold content of at least 90 %,
    Gold bars, nuggets or clumps with a gold content of at least 99.5 %.

(The part about gold bars may be also an answer for the example given by LoyceV about that Italian smuggling gold bars.)

From what I see, there is no reference to cryptocurrency.

However, even if there would be a reference inside the law (a law which I / we can't find at the moment) for being coerced to declare if you own BTC worth of more than 10.000E -- this would only raise more questions in my head: what happens if you have a wallet with BTC worth of -- let's say -- 8000E (thus you don't declare it when leaving the country) and, when you reach your destination, BTC price soars and your wallet is worth of more than 10.000E without you even thinking about it? They'll simply confiscate your money which value more than 10.000E due to a sudden price growth?

[LoyceMobile]

Just curious, what makes you feel safer in Europe, if you would be in this situation?

I'm already within EU, and traveling to another country isn't very exciting. Nobody checks anything, kinda like crossing state borders within the US.

Back to declaring Bitcoin at customs: if you say you travel with 100,000 dollar worth of Bitcoin, even though you have no intention to spend it all, I wonder how they react. My guess is they find it kinda suspicious.

   Gold bars, nuggets or clumps with a gold content of at least 99.5 %.

(The part about gold bars may be also an answer for the example given by LoyceV about that Italian smuggling gold bars.)

So if he would have carried gold of only 99%, he would have been fine?

[AverageGlabella]

Ask the border patrol that is the only way you will get a definite answer but I think it would raise suspicions and would go against their rules of carrying more than what they normally allow into the country but it is not cash and they could treat it like a bank account you might be lucky. If they treat it like a bank account then  I do not see any reason why you would run into problems because they allow people into the country with more then $10000 all the time. If it was physical btc I think they would have a problem but btc is like money in a bank. I think the reason they do not like people bringing cash into the country is because it could be laundered.

[LeGaulois]

@LoyceV is right.

The rule applies to gold as well, and I believe for each of us in EU.
Europe is a colander. Very rare are the moments you're checked while crossing a border. It happened only once with me.
In some countries you can't surely know you're crossing a border, you hardly see a custom office.

Guess how refugees travel...

As for the law, and I'm sure we all have the same. It concerns cash, cheques and alike, prepaid cards, and gold (no problem with silver or diamonds, :p)
Bitcoin is not concerned by this law

[HeRetiK]

As for the law, and I'm sure we all have the same. It concerns cash, cheques and alike, prepaid cards, and gold (no problem with silver or diamonds, :p)
Bitcoin is not concerned by this law

I've got bad news for you, I'm sorry

Equivalent means of payment are e.g.:

• passbooks
• precious stones (rough or cut), e.g. diamonds, rubies, sapphires or emeralds
• gold in the form of
  
  • coins with a gold content of less than 90%
  • gold bullion in the form of bars, nuggets or nuggets with a gold content of less than 99.5%
• other precious metals, e.g. platinum or silver

No talk of cryptocurrencies or other intagible assets though.

(also no problem with gold in the form of powder, foil, coins with a gold content of more than 90% and gold bullion with a gold content of more than 99.5% :p)

[d5000]

I was interested in this question as well, so I asked ChatGPT

I took the example of France, and they pointed me to the French customs website. While the link provided by ChatGPT was dead, indeed there is a site where "digital currency" is mentioned:

https://www.douane.gouv.fr/fiche/obligation-declare-cash-securities-and-valuables

You must declare the following only during physical cross-border transfers to or from an EU country:

Casino plaques, chips and vouchers, digital currency and gold exchange-traded products

I wonder what "during physical cross-border transfers" means. Does that mean like some speculated in this thread, that it applies only to paper wallets and such? A mobile wallet or passphrase paper could however also be viewed as "physical".

Maybe if this is true, a solution could consist in carrying a password which allows you to access a server in your home country, where you can see your passphrase/wallet credentials? (This would be highly unsafe, however.)

(addition: of course this applies only to amounts of more than €10.000. But 0,5 BTC is already more than that ...)

[LeGaulois]

Weird because it wasn't the case before. I see now a change has taken place in 2018 or 2019, so maybe...
I checked the french gov. website and it's not mentionned. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F794?lang=en

I checked the belgium gov. website and nothing too about it. Then I went to Germany's website and still nothing.

And yeah I knew about the gold at >90%

@d5000
Doesn't matter a lot because the countries don't decide. They have to obey to the european rules. Countries are just the puppets of EU

And eu says
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/carrying-cash/index_fr.htm

In a justice court, you will win by saying you respected the EU rules instead the local ones.

[HeRetiK]

You must declare the following only during physical cross-border transfers to or from an EU country:

Casino plaques, chips and vouchers, digital currency and gold exchange-traded products

I wonder what "during physical cross-border transfers" means. Does that mean like some speculated in this thread, that it applies only to paper wallets and such? A mobile wallet or passphrase paper could however also be viewed as "physical". [...]

Note that digital currency may not necessarily mean cryptocurrency.

Either way this probably won't get properly defined until there is precedent. After all there's a huge spectrum of "physical transfer". Physical coins? Paper wallets? Hardware wallets? Software wallets? Your brain storing memorized passphrases? In practice the ability to effectively execute regulations stops at physical coins and paper wallets. No way for them to know how much a hardware or software wallet really contains. Or your brain. Or the book that you're carrying with you that has seemingly random words highlighted with marker.

Still a pity that they thought of vouchers. There goes my plan trafficking McDonalds coupons for fast food arbitrage.

In a justice court, you will win by saying you respected the EU rules instead the local ones.

Depends. The EU delegates the practical implementations of these rules to the local governments. What you then would have to do is prove in court that the state laws are breaking EU law which may not always be that easy but could be a fun exercise. Though I doubt that any of the local customs law are in conflict with EU law, as otherwise someone would have already sued. Someone always does.

[d5000]

@LeGaulois: I think it's like Heretik wrote: the local/national regulations can differ in details from the EU regulations, but must at least implement the restrictions of these. In this case, the local French law could be more severe than the EU regulation. However, it's possible that you're right (which would be a good thing) because just the customs regulations are one of the pillars of the EU as a customs union, and thus it's possible that they have to be completely harmonized (and thus, perhaps, a local court punishing you for not declaring your BTC could be overruled by an European one which considers this rule to be not compliant with the European one).

I saw, however, that also the Spanish customs site has a wider definition of the mediums of exchange which must be declared (Source):

Se consideran medios de pago:
a) El papel moneda y la moneda metálica, nacionales o extranjeros.
b) Los cheques bancarios al portador denominados en cualquier moneda.
c) Cualquier otro medio físico, incluidos los electrónicos, concebidos para ser utilizado como medio de pago al portador.

The bold passage means "every physical asset, included electronic ones, conceived to be used as payment means."

From my understanding, this includes more than the two items mentioned in Annex I of the EU regulation (basically, gold coins/bars and prepaid cards). It could include, for example, "physical" bitcoins.

Note that digital currency may not necessarily mean cryptocurrency.

That's true, yes. Note that the EU has a quite strict definition of the term "e-money", but not "digital money/currency". E-money is always tied to fiat. One would have to look into the small print of the French law (what I cited was only an English summary for tourists).

[GazetaBitcoin]

Back to declaring Bitcoin at customs: if you say you travel with 100,000 dollar worth of Bitcoin, even though you have no intention to spend it all, I wonder how they react. My guess is they find it kinda suspicious.

I think it would raise suspicions

Now you see how ironic the law is? If you want to act honestly and declare a big amount you'd look suspicious. If you don't declare it and you get caught they'll rob your money and start a criminal investigation against you. So what to do?

So if he would have carried gold of only 99%, he would have been fine?

Loooool, according tu EU law, yes. He would have been fine also if he tried to smuggle fake gold bars or ones with only 50-60% gold, even if he was smuggling them only to scam. But they were not 99.5% so he were safe =)))

also no problem with gold in the form of powder, foil, coins with a gold content of more than 90% and gold bullion

Looool I am sure that no custom officer would ever stop to ask you at the border if you are carrying a few gold bullions. It's perfectly normal to have (at least) one in each pocket =)))

There goes my plan trafficking McDonalds coupons for fast food arbitrage.

Fast food arbitrage? =))) Now that's an appealing idea I may try once!.

Doesn't matter a lot because the countries don't decide. They have to obey to the european rules. Countries are just the puppets of EU

And eu says
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/travel/carry/carrying-cash/index_fr.htm

In a justice court, you will win by saying you respected the EU rules instead the local ones.

Yup, that's right. It's possible they did not update the website after last update made by European Union. Besides, the French website mentioned digital currency, not cryptocurrency... anyway this could be a debate about semantics. In any case, it seems there is no specification for declaring crypto at the border...

[franky1]

its about "intention to spend"

EG you dont declare your debit bank card because no one intends to spend their entire life savings in 2 weeks. but if you were going to do a YOLO in las vegas with life savings then yes THEN you should also declare your bank account as YOLO vacation money

when taking physical share certificates, gold bars, if you dont intend to spend them theres no reason to take them. and as such finding them on you is then questioning why you needed to take such an amount

so unless you intend to spend E10k  worth of crypto then there is nothing to declare.. but dont then use that as an excuse not to declare it and maybe get caught on the way back where they may find evidence you did spend more then e10k but not declare it

most of the time just declaring it is meaningless. its just paperwork (unless your on some watchlist).. you simply carry on with your journey
however caught not declaring but then spending raises a red flag

i went from UK, through europe, to asia a few times(and back)
they only cared about my physical value. not any digital(bank/crypto) however they did ask how much i spent a few odd times on the return

if it were a problem then dang elon must never be able to go abroad as his bank account has way more then e10k in bank account share portfolio apps, etc (same as all middle/upperclass people)

[bitmover]

If any has legal knowledge, I'd like to know if you can leave the country (any European country) and enter in another (European) country while carrying with you a wallet containing BTC worth of more than 10.000 euros, without declaring it. Should a BTC wallet be declared at custom office? And what if that wallet is a software wallet... a mobile wallet? What happens if you don't declare it? They can't see that you have an app on your mobile phone, which is a BTC wallet, right? Even if a custom officer would be too zealous and search travelers' phones, looking for crypto wallets (which I highly doubt), a user can always just delete de app and reinstall it once arrived at destination, right? And there simply restore the wallet.

I don't know... is this illegal? Is it legal? Has anyone encountered with such situation? I am trying to understand how law works (or should work) in such cases. As far as I know, since a country does not accept BTC as legal tender, nobody should declare any crypto wallet he has on his phone nor if it is a hardware wallet as, in front of the State, he is not carrying money with him. Maybe I'm wrong though.

Topic is self-moderated for avoiding spam.

There is no doubt that the officer will decide your situation, he will have all power to create problems for you if he wants.

My suggestion is that  you should not carry more than 0.4 BTC (aprox 10k euros) in your mobile phone.

If you are walking with your live savings in your hardware wallet, you need to hide the main seed using a passphrase.
https://www.ledger.com/academy/passphrase-an-advanced-security-feature

Just avoid problems for yourself.

its about "intention to spend"

EG you dont declare your debit bank card because no one intends to spend their entire life savings in 2 weeks.

Debit and cards are not supposed to be declared, not because there is no "will" to spend, but because the law only obligate you to declare your cash.
Only cash is supposed to be declared.

Any person travelling with cash, gold, cheques or other equivalent cash with a total value of 10,000 euros must declare this to the competent customs office. This applies to travel within the European Union orally and on questioning. For journeys to non-European countries, this must be done in writing in advance.

https://www.owlaw.com/german-customs-law/42609-fine-10000-euros-cash-when-travelling-to-germany/#:~:text=Any%20person%20travelling%20with%20cash%2C%20gold%2C%20cheques%20or,this%20must%20be%20done%20in%20writing%20in%20advance.

It is not related to your will to spend it, you should declare if you are carrying.

This law we can see in most countries in the world.

[Poker Player]

I saw, however, that also the Spanish customs site has a wider definition of the mediums of exchange which must be declared (Source):

Se consideran medios de pago:
a) El papel moneda y la moneda metálica, nacionales o extranjeros.
b) Los cheques bancarios al portador denominados en cualquier moneda.
c) Cualquier otro medio físico, incluidos los electrónicos, concebidos para ser utilizado como medio de pago al portador.

The bold passage means "every physical asset, included electronic ones, conceived to be used as payment means."

I see this as a bit exaggerated, because according to the literal meaning, I should declare if I carry a debit card associated to an account where I have $1M. But all the payments made with the card are registered, so I don't see much sense. Besides there is a trick to get around this. I carry a debit card associated with an account where I only have $0.30. But when I arrive in the country I make an instant transfer from a savings account at the same bank for $20k.

A more fundamental question is: do you carry Bitcoin? One could argue you don't carry it: Bitcoin doesn't exist on an address, it exists only on the blockchain. How is that different than bringing my online banking credentials, which allows me to transfer more than €10,000?

I think this is the crux of the matter, but at the time of a trial. At the border an agent can get you in trouble. If I have €1M in Bitcoin I don't really carry it, in the same way that if I have €1M in P&G shares I don't either, even though I can arrive in another country, click to sell them in an instant and have the money in my account available to spend or withdraw in ATMs (little by little obviously because there are withdrawal limits).

The thing is that unless the police suspect you for some reason, the seeds are very easy to hide and they will not find them. Instead of writing them down on a piece of paper, which is the typical thing they would look for if they suspected you, you could take a couple of books in your suitcase and have the seeds written on different pages.

[GazetaBitcoin]

My suggestion is that  you should not carry more than 0.4 BTC (aprox 10k euros) in your mobile phone.

If you are walking with your live savings in your hardware wallet, you need to hide the main seed using a passphrase.

I was not thinking about a hardware wallet but about a mobile wallet. Anyway, most important is to know what the law says. And even if the law would say "yes, declare crypto amounts greater than 10.000E" it's still a gray situation. Look at it in this way:

• you have an online wallet with more than 10.000E worth of BTC; as it is an online wallet, you don't have it with you. But you can still spend this amount in the country where you travel, right?
• you have a mobile wallet with more than 10.000E worth of BTC; (1) you don't declare it as you believe no custom officer would ever check your phone: if this happens (meaning your phone will not be checked) then you are free to spend the money; (2) you delete it and reinstall it once you are inside the destination country: again, nobody can stop you from spending; (3) you save wallet.dat and upload it on your email then delete the wallet: once you reach your destination you are free to spend as much as you want; (4) you delete and restore the wallet using a pass phrase etc.

In all above cases you are able to cross any border with more than 10.000E in BTC even if the law would say you must declare if you have such amount.

Now think about this: again, let's suppose the law coerces you to declare big amounts. And you declare you have 15.000E in BTC. What will happen? Or what happens if you actually have 15.000E fiat? Or 20.000E? Do they confiscate what's over 10.000E? Would they confiscate your BTC too (what's over 10.000E)?

Then about this: you have BTC worth of 9000E and the law says to declare if you have over 10.000E. In this case you don't declare anything, as you have only 9000E. But while you are in the new country BTC doubles and suddenly you have 18.000E. So you spend 18.000E maybe on some valuable physical goods and you are questioned upon returning: "how did you buy these since you had under 10.000E? Did you have more than 10.000E in BTC and you didn't declare?" -- and so on. Can you justify the provenience of the goods simply by saying that "BTC price doubled so I suddenly had more than 10.000 although on departure I had less"?

Finally, what if someone sends you BTC worth of 50.000E and you buy goods and, again, you are stopped when returning and questioned how you were able to buy the goods. What happens if you say you received this amount through a Bitcoin transaction? Will you be considered a criminal for being able to receive (and spend) such a big amount?

So you see, even if a law would say you should declare crypto amounts greater than 10.000E (and, so far, we did not find any such law), things are still in a gray area. You may easily avoid the law but even in cases where you would not avoid it you may look shady (take the case where you have 9000E in BTC and BTC price soars; you buy goods which value more than 10.000E then you are questioned how you were able to buy them since you did not declare anything upon departure, as you had less than 10.000E in BTC back then).