CPA Services for Cryptocurrency Investors and Traders
Cost-basis tracking, Form 8949 preparation, 1099-DA reconciliation, staking and DeFi income reporting, and tax planning for active crypto investors.
Who This Is For
Active crypto traders, long-term Bitcoin and Ethereum holders, DeFi participants (lending, liquidity provision, yield farming), NFT collectors and creators, miners and stakers, and crypto-focused funds.
Top Tax Issues for Crypto Investors
Cost-basis tracking across exchanges and wallets
Transferring crypto between exchanges or to self-custody wallets does not trigger taxable events, but each exchange only reports what it sees. CoinTracker, Koinly, and similar platforms aggregate transactions across all sources to produce accurate Form 8949 detail.
New 1099-DA broker reporting starting 2025
Centralized exchanges must issue Form 1099-DA for digital asset sales beginning 2025. Reconciling 1099-DA reported amounts with tax-prep platform calculations is essential: wash sales, internal transfers, and DeFi events often create discrepancies.
Staking, lending, and DeFi income classification
Staking rewards, lending yield, liquidity pool fees, and airdrops are typically ordinary income at fair market value when received. Subsequent appreciation is then capital gain. Specific protocols (rebases, governance tokens, NFT royalties) may have unique tax treatment.
Wash sale rules and crypto
Wash sale rules under IRC Section 1091 currently do not apply to crypto, allowing tax-loss harvesting that would not be allowed in stock accounts. Pending legislation has proposed extending wash sale rules to digital assets.
Strategies TS CPA Uses
Year-round cost basis reconciliation
Quarterly or monthly imports from all exchanges and wallets into CoinTracker / Koinly catch missing transfers, missing transactions, and mislabeled events while they are easy to fix: not at April 15.
Tax-loss harvesting (no wash-sale restriction yet)
Selling losing positions and immediately repurchasing locks in capital losses without wash sale disallowance. This advantage may close in future legislation, but currently allows aggressive harvesting.
Long-term capital gain optimization
Selling assets held more than one year converts ordinary tax (up to 37%) into long-term capital gain (max 20% + 3.8% NIIT). Identifying lots and using specific identification (HIFO or specific) is critical.
Charitable giving with appreciated crypto
Donating appreciated long-held crypto directly to a public charity provides a fair-market-value deduction (subject to AGI limits) and avoids capital gain on the donation entirely.
Services for Crypto Investors
Cryptocurrency Tax Services
Navigate crypto tax reporting with confidence, from DeFi to NFTs to staking rewards.
Individual Tax Preparation
Tailored and accurate tax preparation, because your financial situation deserves more than a template.
Tax Planning & Strategy
Year-round, proactive tax planning that puts more money back in your pocket, not the IRS's.
Tax Forms Crypto Investors Should Know
Key Tax Terms for Crypto Investors
Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets)
The IRS form used to report each individual sale or disposition of a capital asset, with totals flowing to Schedule D.
Capital Gain
The profit realized from the sale of a capital asset such as stock, real estate, or cryptocurrency, taxed at preferential rates if held longer than one year.
Tax Basis
The amount of investment in an asset for tax purposes, used to determine gain or loss when the asset is sold or otherwise disposed of.
Tax-Loss Harvesting
A strategy of selling investments at a loss to offset capital gains and up to $3,000 of ordinary income annually.
Related Articles
Crypto Tax Guide 2026: Rates, Rules, and Reporting
IRS crypto tax rules for 2026: capital gains rates, taxable events, Form 8949, staking income, wash sale exemption, and new 1099-DA broker reporting.
Form 1099-DA: Crypto Tax Reporting for 2025
New Form 1099-DA requires crypto brokers to report 2025 gross proceeds. No cost basis yet. Here's what it covers and how to file.
Selling Foreign Property: U.S. Tax Rules
U.S. tax rules for selling foreign property: currency gain under Section 988, depreciation recapture, and FIRPTA.
QSBS Section 1202: 2026 Rules and Exclusions
2026 QSBS rules under Section 1202: holding periods, exclusion limits, and how founders and investors save on taxes.
Get a CPA Who Understands Crypto Investors
A licensed CPA reviews your situation and provides a flat-rate quote tailored to your industry. Free, no-obligation, same-day response.
Get Your Free Quote