The tax bill hiding in your wallet: US crypto rules in 2026

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Notes from inside the cube.

Plain-language explainers on the accounting, tax, and policy shaping crypto finance, written for the people who have to get the numbers right.

Writing a crypto treasury policy: what it should cover 2026-10-17 The sections a board-approved digital asset treasury policy needs, from custody and signing limits to stablecoin and DeFi rules.

What auditors ask for on crypto balances, and how to be ready 2026-10-17 Existence, ownership, completeness and valuation each need different evidence for crypto. Here is what regulators flag and what to prepare.

VAT, GST and sales tax when customers pay in crypto 2026-10-17 Exchanging crypto for money is generally exempt from VAT, but goods and services paid for in crypto are taxed as usual, valued at the time of sale.

US tax treatment of gas fees: basis, proceeds and the disposal hiding inside 2026-10-17 Under US rules a network fee changes basis or proceeds, and paying it in crypto is itself a disposal. A $10 exemption is proposed, not law.

US lot identification for crypto: FIFO by default, specific ID if you record it 2026-10-17 Since 2025 the US picks which units you sold wallet by wallet. FIFO applies unless you identify lots in time, and 2026 relief ends soon.

US tax on airdrops and hard forks: Rev. Rul. 2019-24 and dominion and control 2026-10-17 A hard fork alone is not income; new units you can actually move are. Here is how timing, value and basis work, and where the rules run out.

Uniswap v4 for accountants: one contract, hooks and netted transfers 2026-10-17 How v4's singleton PoolManager, hooks, flash accounting, native ETH and dynamic fees change the evidence trail for LP positions and swaps.

The UK crypto regime: final rules are out, go-live is 25 October 2027 2026-10-17 The law is made, the FCA's rulebook is final and the application window is open. What is in scope, the key dates, and what finance teams should prepare.

UK companies and crypto: intangible assets, gains or trading income 2026-10-17 A UK company's crypto may be taxed under the intangibles regime, as chargeable gains or as trading profit. Accounts and facts decide.

Token vesting and lockups: tracking, disclosure and runway 2026-10-17 How to track vesting schedules, what US GAAP requires you to disclose about restricted crypto, and why locked tokens are not runway.

The travel rule for crypto transfers: what providers must collect and why 2026-10-17 How FATF's travel rule, EU and US rules decide what data travels with a crypto transfer, including to self-hosted wallets.

Stablecoins on the balance sheet: cash equivalent, financial asset or intangible 2026-10-17 How holders classify stablecoins under US GAAP and IFRS today, and what the FASB's August 2026 cash-equivalents proposal would clarify.

Paying and getting paid in stablecoins: evidence, matching and controls 2026-10-17 How to settle invoices in stablecoins cleanly: what proves payment, how to handle fees and short-pays, and the sanctions checks that apply.

Spot crypto ETFs: what changed from 2024 to now, and why finance teams care 2026-10-17 From the first spot bitcoin approvals to generic listing standards, in-kind creations and staking: what the products are, and how their numbers are built.

Paying with crypto is a disposal: every payment, every time 2026-10-17 In the US and UK, spending crypto on goods or services is a taxable disposal. There is no small-payment exemption yet, so records matter.

Spam tokens, dusting and address poisoning: keep them out of the books 2026-10-17 Unsolicited tokens and tiny transfers hit every active wallet. Keep them off the balance sheet, avoid poisoned addresses, screen for sanctions.

South Africa and crypto tax: what SARS expects in 2026 2026-10-17 Capital or revenue depends on intention, crypto is a financial instrument, base cost is FIFO or specific identification, and CARF reporting has begun.

SOC 1 and ICFR controls for crypto: what auditors actually test 2026-10-17 Wallet access, pricing, completeness, reconciliations and change management, plus the user controls a custodian's SOC 1 report assumes you run.

Sky (formerly Maker): DAI, USDS, sUSDS and vault debt for accountants 2026-10-17 How the DAI-USDS converter, the Sky Savings Rate and collateral vaults work, and the policy choices they force on your books.

Singapore's digital token rules: PS Act, the DTSP regime and stablecoins 2026-10-17 How MAS licenses payment token services, why offshore-only firms had to stop in June 2025, and where the stablecoin law stands.

SEC or CFTC? How US regulators now sort crypto tokens 2026-10-17 The March 2026 SEC-CFTC interpretation set out five token categories. What it settles, what it leaves open, and why finance teams should care.

Sanctions screening for crypto wallets: OFAC rules and the Tornado Cash saga 2026-10-17 OFAC's virtual currency guidance, SDN-listed addresses, what Tornado Cash's 2022 listing and 2025 removal changed, and what to do on a hit.

Safeguarding crypto after SAB 121: what custodians record now 2026-10-17 SAB 122 removed the on-balance-sheet safeguarding liability. Custodians now ask two questions: do we control the assets, and is a loss probable?

Safe multisig as a treasury control: what auditors will ask to see 2026-10-17 How Safe owners, thresholds, modules and the transaction service work, and how to turn approvals into internal-control evidence.

Runway when part of the treasury is tokens 2026-10-17 A dollar of tokens is not a dollar of runway. How to haircut, exclude locked balances and stress stablecoins before you divide by burn.

Rocket Pool: rETH, megapools, commission and RPL for finance teams 2026-10-17 rETH grows against ETH instead of paying out rewards, and Saturn 1 changed how node operators bond, earn and stake RPL. What to record.

Reporting in a different currency: IAS 21, ASC 830 and the CTA 2026-10-17 Translating USD books into euros or pounds uses three kinds of rate. The leftover difference, the CTA, keeps the translated TB in balance.

Reconciling wallets to the ledger: a three-way method 2026-10-17 How to tie on-chain balances, subledger lots and the general ledger together, and how to explain the breaks auditors will ask about.

Reconciling centralized exchange accounts: statements, fills, fees, transfers 2026-10-17 Exchange balances are claims on a third party, not coins in your wallet. How to reconcile them and use new broker reports as cross-checks.

Which price is fair value? Principal markets for crypto, explained 2026-10-17 Fair value for a token is an exit price in the market you can access with the most volume. How to pick it, and what you cannot adjust for.

Posting crypto journals to your ERP without losing the audit trail 2026-10-17 Summary or detail, mapping to your chart of accounts, and how to stop the same transaction landing in QuickBooks, Xero or NetSuite twice.

Period-end crypto remeasurement: the fair value journal, step by step 2026-10-17 How to book the quarter-end fair value adjustment under ASU 2023-08, how the IFRS impairment model differs, and why cut-off time matters.

Pendle PT and YT: how splitting yield works and how to book it 2026-10-17 Pendle splits a yield-bearing token into a principal token and a yield token. Here is the mechanics and the policy choices each one forces.

Paying staff in tokens: grant value, vesting, lockups and withholding 2026-10-17 Token awards rarely fit the share-based payment rules neatly. Here is how scope, measurement, classification and payroll tax interact.

Paying contractors and staff in crypto: tax, withholding and records 2026-10-17 Crypto pay is still pay. How US and UK rules treat wages and contractor fees settled in tokens, and what the books need to show.

The OECD's CARF: global crypto tax reporting, country by country 2026-10-17 Which providers report, what they report, and which countries start exchanging data in 2027, 2028 and 2029.

NFTs on the balance sheet: cost, impairment and creator royalties 2026-10-17 NFTs sit outside ASU 2023-08's fair value model. Holders track each token at cost less impairment; creators face ASC 606 royalty questions.

Morpho markets and vaults: isolated lending, curators and ERC-4626 shares 2026-10-17 How Morpho's isolated markets differ from curated vaults, who carries which risk, and how to account for vault shares whose value grows.

MiCA after 1 July 2026: crypto service providers now need a licence 2026-10-17 The MiCA grandfathering period is over. What authorisation and passporting mean, how to use the ESMA register, and what to check about your providers.

Maple Finance credit pools: syrupUSDC, impairments and lender accounting 2026-10-17 A syrupUSDC balance is a share in a pool of institutional loans, not a stablecoin. How the pools work, how losses reach lenders, and how to book it.

Lost keys, hacks and scams: when a crypto loss counts for tax 2026-10-17 A price crash, a lost key, a hack and a scam are four different tax events. The IRS and HMRC treat each one differently, and timing matters.

Lending crypto under IFRS: does it leave your balance sheet? 2026-10-17 IFRS has no crypto lending rule. The answer turns on IAS 38 control, and the receivable usually is not an IFRS 9 financial asset.

Legal wrappers for DAOs: Wyoming, Marshall Islands, Cayman, Switzerland 2026-10-17 The main entity types DAOs use to sign contracts, limit member liability and file taxes, and what each means for the books.

Labelling counterparties at scale: own wallets, exchanges, routers, vendors 2026-10-17 Every on-chain transfer needs a name on the other side. How to label addresses with evidence and confidence, and why unknown must never mean internal.

Jupiter swaps on Solana: routes, fees and one journal per transaction 2026-10-17 A Jupiter swap can touch many pools in one atomic transaction. Book what your wallet gave and got, not every hop the router took.

JitoSOL for accountants: exchange rates, MEV tips and restaking vaults 2026-10-17 JitoSOL never rebases; its SOL exchange rate rises as staking and MEV rewards pool up. That shapes when income can be booked.

IAS 38 for crypto: the cost model versus the revaluation model 2026-10-17 Under IFRS most crypto holdings are intangible assets. How the two IAS 38 models work, where gains land, and why the choice is closer than it looks.

When crypto is inventory: IAS 2 and the broker-trader exception 2026-10-17 Under IFRS, tokens held for sale in the ordinary course of business are inventory. Broker-traders can carry them at fair value less costs to sell.

Hyperliquid perps, vaults and HYPE staking: what to record and why 2026-10-17 Hourly funding, cross and isolated margin, liquidations, HLP and user vaults, and HYPE staking, with the evidence your books need.

Hong Kong's stablecoin licences: what the HKMA requires of issuers 2026-10-17 The Stablecoins Ordinance has applied since August 2025 and two issuers were licensed in April 2026. Reserves, redemption and what it means for holders.

HMRC on DeFi lending and staking: the rules that apply until 2027 2026-10-17 HMRC's DeFi manual turns on beneficial ownership and on whether returns look like interest. Here is how it works before the 2027 changes.

Historical crypto prices for the books: source, timestamp, evidence 2026-10-17 Every crypto journal rests on a price. Where historical prices come from, why timestamps matter, and what auditors and tax authorities expect.

GMX v2 GM pools: being the house for perp traders, and how to book it 2026-10-17 How GM and GLV tokens work, why LPs take the other side of traders, where fees go, and the accounting choices for holding GM tokens.

Getting paid in crypto: revenue under ASC 606 and IFRS 15 2026-10-17 A price stated in tokens is non-cash consideration, measured at contract inception under US GAAP. IFRS 15 leaves the date open.

Germany's one-year rule for crypto: how it works, and the plan to end it 2026-10-17 Private crypto sales in Germany are tax-free after a year. Here is how the clock, staking and records work, and where the 2027 reform stands.

France's flat tax on crypto: 31.4% and a portfolio-wide gain formula 2026-10-17 French individuals pay a flat tax, now 31.4%, on crypto cashed out, using a whole-portfolio cost formula. Habitual traders are taxed differently.

Expected credit losses on crypto loans: CECL, IFRS 9 and collateral 2026-10-17 Lent crypto, fiat loans backed by crypto, and market-maker loans each sit differently under credit-loss rules, and US GAAP may change in 2027.

Ethena USDe and sUSDe: a synthetic dollar, not a reserve-backed stablecoin 2026-10-17 How USDe holds its value through hedged collateral, how sUSDe earns, the risks behind it, and why it may not be cash or a stablecoin on your books.

Embedded derivatives in token deals: loans, options and crypto-settled payables 2026-10-17 Crypto loans, market-maker calls, token warrants and crypto-denominated payables can hide derivatives that must be split out and marked to fair value.

EigenLayer restaking for treasuries: rewards, slashing and exits 2026-10-17 How native and LST restaking work, how rewards are claimed, what slashing means since April 2025, and the accounting choices it leaves you.

Dubai VARA licensing: activities, rulebooks and the UAE's other regulators 2026-10-17 VARA licenses eight virtual asset activities in Dubai outside the DIFC. Here is how licensing works and how ADGM, SCA and the central bank fit in.

Wash sales and crypto: not covered today, but a bill reaches back to Sept 14 2026-10-17 Section 1091 covers stock and securities, not crypto held directly. A House bill would change that from its introduction date in September 2026.

DAC8: how EU crypto tax reporting works from 2026 2026-10-17 Crypto service providers now collect user and transaction data for EU tax authorities. Here is who reports, what is reported and when.

Curve and Convex: gauges, veCRV and reward streams explained 2026-10-17 How Curve LP tokens, gauges, CRV emissions, veCRV locks and Convex wrappers work, and the accounting choices each step raises.

A crypto month-end close, step by step 2026-10-17 A ten-step close for digital assets: completeness, period-end pricing, lots, remeasurement or impairment, reconciliation and sign-off.

Crypto in the cash flow statement: operating, investing or non-cash? 2026-10-17 Buying and selling crypto is usually investing; crypto paid or received in the business is often non-cash. Here is how the rules sort it.

Crypto impairment under IFRS: write-downs, reversals and the cost cap 2026-10-17 Under IAS 38 and IAS 36, crypto written down can be written back up, but never above original cost. US legacy rules allow no write-back at all.

Cross-chain bridges for accountants: two hashes, one movement 2026-10-17 Lock-and-mint, burn-and-mint and intent bridges each leave different records on each chain. Here is how to match them and choose a policy.

CoW Protocol for accountants: intents, solvers and fees inside the price 2026-10-17 On CoW Protocol you sign an intent, a solver settles it in a shared batch, and fees are netted into the price. Here is what that means for records.

Compound III (Comet): one borrowable asset, idle collateral, clear books 2026-10-17 How Comet markets work, why posted collateral earns nothing, and how to record supplying, borrowing, interest, liquidation and rewards.

CBDCs in 2026: digital euro advances, UK waits, US says no 2026-10-17 Where the digital euro, the digital pound and the US ban on a central bank digital currency stand in October 2026, and what treasuries should watch.

Capturing gas fees in practice: from receipt to journal 2026-10-17 How to pull the real fee for every transaction, handle L2 data fees and failed transactions, and decide expense versus capitalisation.

Canada: is your crypto a business or a capital asset? 2026-10-17 The CRA taxes crypto as business income in full or as capital gains at one-half. How it decides, how average cost works and the superficial loss trap.

The Basel crypto standard: how banks must capitalise your tokens 2026-10-17 The global bank capital rule for cryptoassets took effect in January 2026 and is already under review. Here is how it works and why it reaches you.

Balancer weighted and boosted pools: accounting for BPT 2026-10-17 Multi-token pools, yield-bearing boosted pools and the 2026 end of BAL emissions: what a Balancer LP position is and how teams record it.

Australia: crypto CGT events, personal use limits, wrapping and DeFi 2026-10-17 The ATO treats most crypto activity as a CGT event, including wrapping and many DeFi deposits. A 2027 reform changes how gains are measured.

Audit-ready crypto records: what to keep, and for how long 2026-10-17 Transaction evidence, price sources, wallet ownership proof and policy memos, plus the IRS, HMRC and SARS retention periods that apply.

ASC 350-60 crypto disclosures, line by line 2026-10-17 What ASU 2023-08 asks you to disclose about crypto holdings each quarter and each year, and which system each number has to come from.

DEX aggregator swaps: one hash, many hops, one journal 2026-10-17 Aggregators split a trade across many pools in a single transaction. Book what entered and left your wallet, once, with fees shown separately.

Aerodrome on Base: LP emissions, veAERO votes and incentives 2026-10-17 How Aerodrome's ve(3,3) model pays LPs in AERO, pays voters in fees and incentives, and locks tokens as NFTs, and how teams record each flow.

Accounting for tokens you issue: why your own token is not an asset 2026-10-17 Issuers sit outside ASU 2023-08. What you record depends on the promises attached to the token: equity, a liability, revenue or none of these.

US tax on staking rewards: Rev. Rul. 2023-14 and the dominion test 2026-10-16 The IRS taxes staking rewards as income when you can first sell them, and the Tax Court has now agreed. Here is what that means for your records.

Uniswap v3 positions: separating fee income from principal 2026-10-16 Uniswap v3 keeps LP fees apart from principal on-chain. Here is how that works, and why your books should keep them apart too.

UK crypto pooling: the same-day rule, 30-day rule and Section 104 pool 2026-10-16 How HMRC matches crypto disposals to acquisitions for individuals, worked through with HMRC's own numbers, and why companies differ.

UK draft rules: no gain, no loss for crypto lending and liquidity pools 2026-10-16 Draft Finance Bill 2026-27 clauses would defer CGT on qualifying lending, borrowing and pool deposits for individuals from 6 April 2027.

UK companies and crypto: the 10-day window versus 'previous nine days' 2026-10-16 Statute says 'within a period of 10 days'; HMRC says 'previous nine days'. How they relate, and how to document your convention.

Staking income in the courts: Paschall decided, Jarrett still unresolved 2026-10-16 The Tax Court held in June 2026 that staking rewards are income on receipt. The second Jarrett refund suit has no public ruling we can find.

Solana rent is a deposit, not an expense 2026-10-16 Solana fees are spent, but the rent-exempt balance locked in accounts you control comes back when they close. Book them differently.

Reading Form 1099-DA: what brokers report, and what they leave out 2026-10-16 Custodial brokers now report crypto sale proceeds to the IRS, with basis added from 2026. Here is how to read the form and tie it to your books.

MiCA and stablecoins: e-money tokens vs asset-referenced tokens 2026-10-16 How the EU splits stablecoins into EMTs and ARTs, the key dates, what happened to non-compliant tokens, and what EU treasuries should check.

Lido stETH vs wstETH: rebases, wrapping and withdrawals for accountants 2026-10-16 stETH balances change daily; wstETH balances do not. How each works, how withdrawals settle, and the open accounting and tax questions.

The GENIUS Act: what the US stablecoin law requires, and when 2026-10-16 Who may issue payment stablecoins, how they must be backed and disclosed, where rulemaking stands, and what it means for treasury holdings.

GENIUS Act: the final OCC stablecoin rule is weeks away 2026-10-16 The OCC said in August it aimed to finish by November; mid-October reports say end of October. No final rule is out yet.

FASB crypto transfers project: wrapped tokens in, lent crypto stays on books 2026-10-16 The FASB has agreed the shape of a proposal on wrapped tokens and crypto lending, but the exposure draft is not out yet. Stablecoins are a separate track.

CLARITY Act stalls: Senate procedural vote fails 49-50 2026-10-16 The Senate declined to start debate on the crypto market structure bill on 15 September. Nothing changes for finance teams yet.

ASU 2023-08 scope: which crypto assets get fair value, and which don't 2026-10-16 The six tests that put a token under ASC 350-60 fair value, what falls outside, and where the FASB is taking scope next.

Aave v3 for treasuries: supplying, aTokens, borrowing and liquidations 2026-10-16 How Aave v3 deposits, interest-bearing aTokens, loans and liquidations work, and the accounting policy choices each one forces.

The tax bill hiding in your wallet: US crypto rules in 2026 2026-08-15 Property, not currency. Staking is income. And now a Form 1099-DA lands from your broker.

Crypto on the balance sheet: fair value (US GAAP) vs cost (IFRS) 2026-08-15 ASU 2023-08 flipped US GAAP to fair value. IFRS still says intangible. The same coin, two rulebooks.

Where the CLARITY Act stands (and what it would change) 2026-08-01 Through the House, through Senate committee, and stuck short of a floor vote. A status check.

Editorial explainers — not advice

These pieces are general information for finance teams, current as of publication. They are not legal, tax, or accounting advice — confirm treatment with a qualified professional for your facts and jurisdiction.

Notes from inside the cube.

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