Crypto.com Taxes: How to Report and File Correctly

Crypto.com is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, offering everything from spot trading and staking to NFT marketplaces and DeFi protocols. If you used Crypto.com during the tax year, every trade, reward, and transfer may carry tax consequences that need to be reported to the IRS.

The challenge? Crypto.com doesn't calculate your full tax liability for you. The platform provides limited tax documents, and for users with activity beyond simple buys and sells, the reporting can get complicated fast.

This guide covers exactly how Crypto.com transactions are taxed, which tax forms to expect, how to download your transaction history, and the step-by-step process for reporting your crypto activity on your federal tax return. Whether you're an active trader, a staking participant, or someone who earned referral bonuses, you'll find actionable guidance here.

How Are Crypto.com Transactions Taxed?

The IRS classifies cryptocurrency as property, not currency. That means almost every action you take on Crypto.com can trigger a taxable event. Here's a breakdown of the most common scenarios and how each one is taxed.

Trading and Selling Cryptocurrency

Selling crypto for USD, trading one cryptocurrency for another (like swapping ETH for USDC), or using crypto to pay for goods and services are all taxable disposals. Each transaction creates a capital gain or capital loss calculated as:

Your cost basis is the original purchase price of the asset, plus any fees paid during acquisition. The tax rate you'll pay depends on how long you held the asset before selling:

• Short-term capital gains (held 1 year or less): Taxed at your ordinary income rate, ranging from 10% to 37% depending on your bracket.
• Long-term capital gains (held more than 1 year): Taxed at preferential rates of 0%, 15%, or 20% based on your taxable income.

This distinction matters significantly. If you're considering selling positions and have held them for close to a year, waiting past the 12-month mark could mean a substantially lower tax bill. For portfolios with hundreds or thousands of transactions, calculating every gain and loss accurately requires organized records and correct cost basis tracking. Count On Sheep provides CPA-ready crypto tax reports that break down every transaction with verified cost basis data.

Earning Staking and DeFi Rewards

Crypto.com offers several ways to earn rewards, and each one is considered taxable income at the time you receive it. Common reward types include:

• Staking rewards (CRO staking, Crypto Earn)
• Referral bonuses
• Cashback rewards from the Crypto.com Visa card
• Supercharger rewards
• Interest earned through the Earn program

Each reward is taxed as ordinary income at the fair market value on the date you receive it. This means even if you never sell the reward tokens, you still owe income tax on the amount received.

If you later sell those reward tokens, any change in value between the time you received them and the time you sold them creates a separate capital gain or loss event.

For users who participate in Ethereum staking or DeFi activity through Crypto.com's ecosystem, accurately tracking reward income across multiple protocols gets complicated quickly. Automated software frequently mislabels these transactions.

Crypto-to-Crypto Swaps

Many users assume that swapping one crypto for another (BTC for ETH, for example) isn't taxable because no fiat changed hands. That's incorrect. The IRS treats every crypto-to-crypto swap as a disposal, triggering a taxable event.

The taxable amount equals the fair market value of the crypto you received at the time of the trade, minus your cost basis in the crypto you gave up.

NFT Purchases and Sales on Crypto.com

If you bought, sold, or minted NFTs through Crypto.com's NFT marketplace, those transactions carry tax implications too. Buying an NFT with crypto is a taxable disposal of the crypto used. Selling an NFT for profit creates a capital gain. Even gas fees paid during minting or transferring can affect your cost basis calculations.

NFT tax reporting is one of the most error-prone areas in cryptocurrency taxation because automated tools often miss royalties, fail to track minting costs, or duplicate marketplace transfers.

What Tax Forms Does Crypto.com Issue?

Crypto.com provides limited tax documentation to users based on specific activity thresholds. Understanding what you'll receive — and what you won't — is critical to staying compliant.

Form 1099-DA (Starting 2026)

Beginning with the 2025 tax year, Crypto.com and other U.S. exchanges will start issuing Form 1099-DA, a new IRS form designed specifically for digital asset transactions. This form will provide detailed reporting on proceeds, cost basis, and gain/loss calculations for each transaction.

The 1099-DA represents the IRS's most direct effort yet to close reporting gaps in cryptocurrency taxation. For more on crypto tax forms and what they mean for you, Count On Sheep can help you prepare.

What If You Don't Receive a Tax Form from Crypto.com?

This is one of the most misunderstood aspects of cryptocurrency tax reporting. Not receiving a tax form does not exempt you from reporting.

If you earned less than $600 in rewards, Crypto.com won't send a 1099-MISC, but the income is still taxable. If you traded crypto but didn't receive a 1099-B, you're still legally required to calculate and report capital gains and losses on your tax return.

The IRS has made it clear through enforcement actions, updated guidance (Notice 2014-21, Revenue Ruling 2019-24), and the digital asset question on Form 1040 that every taxpayer must disclose their cryptocurrency activity regardless of whether an exchange issued a tax form.

How to Download Your Crypto.com Transaction History

Before you can calculate your taxes, you need a complete record of every transaction. Here's how to export your data from the Crypto.com app:

Navigate to theAccountspage from the bottom menu.

Look for the clock/history icon in the top right corner of the screen.

Tap theExportbutton to begin generating your transaction file.

SelectCrypto Walletas the source. Set the start date to January 1 and end date to December 31 of the tax year you're filing (e.g., 2024).

ClickExport to CSVand save the file. This CSV contains your full transaction history for the selected period.

Keep in mind that this CSV covers your Crypto.com app activity. If you also used the Crypto.com Exchange, DeFi Wallet, or NFT Marketplace, you'll need to export records from each of those platforms separately. For users with activity spread across multiple wallets and chains, consolidating everything into a single accurate dataset is where crypto bookkeeping services become valuable.

Step-by-Step: How to Report Crypto.com Taxes on Your Return

Once you have your transaction history, the next step is organizing that data and mapping it to the correct IRS forms. Here's the process:

Step 1: Categorize Each Transaction

Review every transaction and classify it into one of these categories:

• Capital gains/losses: Trades, swaps, sales, NFT disposals
• Ordinary income: Staking rewards, referral bonuses, earn interest, mining income
• Non-taxable events: Transfers between your own wallets, buying crypto with fiat (no disposal)

Step 2: Determine Holding Periods

For every sale or swap, determine whether the asset was held for more or less than one year. This determines whether the gain is taxed at short-term or long-term rates.

Step 3: Calculate Capital Gains and Losses

For each taxable disposal, subtract the cost basis from the sale price. Your cost basis includes the purchase price plus acquisition fees. Be consistent with your accounting method — FIFO (First In, First Out), LIFO (Last In, First Out), or specific identification.

Step 4: Report on the Correct IRS Forms

Once calculations are complete, report everything using these forms:

For accurate filing, your reports need to be thorough and defensible. Count On Sheep's team of crypto tax consultants can reconcile your Crypto.com activity and deliver structured Form 8949 data ready for your CPA.

Common Crypto.com Tax Mistakes to Avoid

Even well-intentioned taxpayers make errors when reporting Crypto.com activity. Here are the most frequent mistakes and how to prevent them:

If you suspect errors in past filings or your software-generated reports don't look right, digital asset investigation services can help reconstruct your complete transaction history and correct discrepancies.

Why Accurate Crypto Tax Reporting Matters

The IRS has significantly ramped up enforcement around cryptocurrency. Here's what's at stake if your reporting is incomplete or inaccurate:

• IRS audits: The IRS actively uses blockchain analytics and exchange data to cross-reference reported income against on-chain activity.

• Penalties for underreporting: Accuracy-related penalties can reach 20% to 75% of the underpayment, depending on whether the IRS classifies the issue as negligence or fraud.

• Interest on unpaid taxes: Underpayments accrue interest from the original filing deadline, compounding the total amount owed.

• Criminal prosecution: In extreme cases of willful tax evasion involving cryptocurrency, the IRS has pursued criminal charges.

The digital asset question on Form 1040 ("At any time during the tax year, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any digital assets?") means you can't claim ignorance. Answering "No" when you had taxable activity constitutes a false statement on a federal tax return.

Proactive, accurate reporting protects you. Working with experienced crypto tax professionals ensures your records are complete, your cost basis is correct, and your filing is defensible if the IRS comes asking questions.

Handling DeFi, Futures, and Advanced Crypto.com Activity

Crypto.com's ecosystem extends well beyond simple buy-and-sell. If you participated in any of the following, your tax situation is more complex than a basic CSV export can handle:

• Crypto.com DeFi Wallet: Staking, liquidity provision, governance participation, and cross-chain bridging through the DeFi Wallet create separate taxable events that aren't captured in your main app export.
• Futures and derivatives trading: Crypto.com's Exchange supports margin trading and futures contracts, which involve different tax treatment under IRS rules.
• Supercharger events: Depositing CRO into Supercharger pools and receiving reward tokens creates income events that need to be tracked at the fair market value on each distribution date.
• Cross-chain bridges: Moving assets between chains (like from Ethereum to Cronos) may or may not create taxable events depending on the mechanism, and automated tools frequently get this wrong.

For users with this level of complexity, software alone isn't enough. Count On Sheep's crypto tax services are built specifically for portfolios that involve multi-wallet reconciliation, DeFi protocol activity, and high transaction volume that automated tools can't handle accurately.

Crypto.com Users Affected by FTX or Other Exchange Collapses

Some Crypto.com users also held assets on exchanges that collapsed, like FTX, Celsius, or BlockFi. If you transferred crypto between Crypto.com and any of these platforms, the tax implications can be particularly complex.

Bankruptcy-related activity — including frozen assets, claim recoveries, distributions, and write-offs — needs careful handling to ensure your filing is accurate. Count On Sheep has direct experience with FTX-related crypto tax reporting and can reconcile activity across affected exchanges and wallets.

When to Bring in Professional Crypto Tax Help

Not everyone needs professional help. If you made a few straightforward buys and sells on Crypto.com and didn't participate in staking, DeFi, or NFTs, a quality crypto tax software tool may be sufficient.

But you should consider working with a professional if:

• You have activity on Crypto.com plus multiple other exchanges and wallets

• You participated in staking, DeFi, or liquidity pools

• You bought or sold NFTs

• You have transactions from prior tax years that weren't reported

• Your software-generated reports contain errors, missing cost basis, or inflated gains

• You received a 1099-DA or IRS notice related to digital assets

• You need an audit trail that can withstand IRS scrutiny

Count On Sheep provides comprehensive crypto tax preparation support, from reconciliation through CPA-ready report delivery. Our team of former Big 4 accountants specializes in complex digital asset portfolios and can help you get your reporting right the first time.

Frequently Asked Questions About Crypto.com Taxes