[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"guide:crypto-tax-guide::en":3,"guides-all::en":10},{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"topic":7,"updated_at":8,"body":9},"crypto-tax-guide","The Crypto Records to Keep Before Tax Time","What you owe is set where you live, and this page does not touch it. What travels between jurisdictions is the record-keeping — and the fact that exchanges are not archives.","tax","2026-08-17T16:27:44+00:00","\u003Cp>Tax rules for cryptoassets are set country by country and change often, so nothing here is advice about what you owe. What does travel between jurisdictions is the record-keeping. Whatever your rules turn out to be, they will be applied to a history of transactions — and that history is far easier to assemble while it is happening than to reconstruct two years later from a venue that has since closed your account.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Assume more events count than you expect\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Most systems treat a disposal as the event that matters, and a disposal is usually more than selling for cash. Swapping one token for another, spending crypto on something, and in many places receiving it as income — \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fglossary\u002Fstaking\">staking\u003C\u002Fa> rewards, airdrops, payment for work — are each events with a value at the moment they happened. Moving your own coin between your own wallets normally is not, though the fee paid to move it may be. The practical consequence is that an active year in \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fglossary\u002Fdefi\">DeFi\u003C\u002Fa> can generate several hundred events out of a handful of decisions.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Four fields, captured at the time\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>A usable record of any event carries the date and time, what went out and what came in with amounts, the value in your own currency at that moment, and the fee. The third is the one that cannot be recovered later with much confidence: a daily closing price is easy to look up, a price at 14:07 on a pair that moved eight per cent that afternoon is not. Export from every venue you use at least once a year and keep the raw file rather than a screenshot of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>The records vanish from the places you assume are permanent\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Exchange histories are not archives. Venues delist pairs, retire old APIs, cap exports to the last twelve months, close accounts in markets they withdraw from, and occasionally stop existing — customers of the collapses in our \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fincidents\u002Fftx-2022\">failure record\u003C\u002Fa> lost their transaction histories along with their balances. Anything that exists only inside an account you do not control is a record you are borrowing. That includes the venues currently in good standing on our \u003Ca href=\"\u002Fexchanges\">graded list\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>Cost basis is a method, not a number\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>When you sell part of a holding accumulated over many purchases, something has to decide which units you sold. Jurisdictions differ on which methods they allow and on whether you may change method later. That choice, applied consistently across every disposal, is what turns a pile of transactions into a gain or a loss. It is also why an average entry price from a \u003Ca href=\"\u002Ftools\u002Fdca-calculator\">position calculator\u003C\u002Fa> is a useful sanity check on your own numbers and not a figure to file.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>When to stop and ask someone\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Bring in a professional when the answer depends on facts rather than arithmetic: income received in crypto, mining or staking at any scale, losses from a failed venue or a theft, a move between countries during the year, or anything held through a business. Bring the exports rather than your conclusions — the conclusions are the part they are being paid for.\u003C\u002Fp>\u003Ch2>The bottom line\u003C\u002Fh2>\u003Cp>Nobody can tell you what you owe without knowing where you live. Anybody can tell you what the answer will be computed from: dated events, valued at the time they happened, exported while the venue still allows it, and kept somewhere the venue does not control.\u003C\u002Fp>",[11,17,22,27,31,32,36,40,44,49,53,57,61,65,69,73,77,81,85,89,93,97,101,105,109,113,117,121,125],{"slug":12,"title":13,"excerpt":14,"topic":15,"updated_at":16},"an-etf-share-or-the-coin-itself","An ETF Share or the Coin Itself","Both track the same price and they are not the same asset. What each one actually makes you own, the three-way choice most people mistake for a two-way one, and which risk you are picking up.","market-literacy","2026-08-18T03:30:02+00:00",{"slug":18,"title":19,"excerpt":20,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"api-keys-and-third-party-trading-tools","API Keys and Third-Party Trading Tools","Bots, trackers and tax tools all ask for exchange API keys. What each permission actually grants, and the one you should almost never hand over.","exchange-safety",{"slug":23,"title":24,"excerpt":25,"topic":26,"updated_at":16},"bridging-crypto-between-chains","Bridging Crypto Between Chains Without Losing It","A bridge is a custody decision dressed up as a transfer. What the three designs actually do with your coin, why bridges are the most attacked component in crypto, and the checks that survive all of them.","wallet-security",{"slug":28,"title":29,"excerpt":30,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"checking-a-crypto-address-before-you-send","How to Check a Crypto Address Before You Send","A crypto transfer cannot be recalled, and the most common way people lose money is sending to an address that was never the one they meant. Here is the check that catches it.",{"slug":4,"title":5,"excerpt":6,"topic":7,"updated_at":8},{"slug":33,"title":34,"excerpt":35,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"custodial-vs-non-custodial-wallets-explained","Custodial vs Non-Custodial Wallets Explained","The single biggest decision in how you hold crypto: who controls the keys, and what that means for security and responsibility.",{"slug":37,"title":38,"excerpt":39,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"exchange-safety-checklist","How to Evaluate a Crypto Exchange's Safety","Before you deposit a dollar, run any exchange through this checklist — proof-of-reserves, custody model, licensing, and security track record.",{"slug":41,"title":42,"excerpt":43,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"hardware-wallets-explained","Hardware Wallets Explained","What a hardware wallet actually protects you from, what it does not, and how to buy and set one up without undoing the point of owning it.",{"slug":45,"title":46,"excerpt":47,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-crypto-withdrawals-work","How Crypto Withdrawals Work","Networks, addresses, confirmations and fees — what actually happens when you withdraw crypto, and the mistakes that make it unrecoverable.","crypto-basics",{"slug":50,"title":51,"excerpt":52,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-to-buy-bitcoin","How to Buy Bitcoin for the First Time","The purchase takes ten minutes. What takes longer are the four decisions around it: where the coin will live, which venue may legally sell to you, and what the quote really costs.",{"slug":54,"title":55,"excerpt":56,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-check-a-token-before-you-buy","How to Check a Token Before You Buy","Six checks you can run yourself on any token, with a block explorer and the contract. None of them require trusting the project's own description.",{"slug":58,"title":59,"excerpt":60,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"how-to-check-an-exchange-licence-claim","How to Check an Exchange Licence Claim","A licence badge in a footer is a claim, not evidence. Four steps to verify it against the register, and what the answer does and does not cover.",{"slug":62,"title":63,"excerpt":64,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-read-a-crypto-whitepaper","How to Read a Crypto Whitepaper","A whitepaper has no standard, no reviewer and no obligation to stay true. What to read first, what to verify elsewhere, and which sections to skip.",{"slug":66,"title":67,"excerpt":68,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"how-to-spot-a-crypto-scam","How to Spot a Crypto Scam","The patterns behind almost every crypto scam are older than crypto. Learn the five that keep working, and the checks that defuse them.",{"slug":70,"title":71,"excerpt":72,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"how-to-trade-futures","How to Trade Crypto Futures, Starting With the Risk","A perpetual costs you money whether you are right or wrong, and the venue picks the moment your position closes. The numbers to know before the entry, not after it.",{"slug":74,"title":75,"excerpt":76,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"market-cap-and-supply-explained","Market Cap and Supply, Explained","Why a coin's unit price tells you nothing, what market cap actually measures, and the supply figures that quietly change the answer.",{"slug":78,"title":79,"excerpt":80,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"proof-of-reserves-explained","Proof of Reserves Explained","What a proof-of-reserves report actually proves, what it quietly leaves out, and how to read one without mistaking it for a full audit.",{"slug":82,"title":83,"excerpt":84,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"reading-a-block-explorer","How to Read a Block Explorer","A block explorer is the public record every claim about a transaction can be checked against. What the fields mean, and the three things worth verifying yourself.",{"slug":86,"title":87,"excerpt":88,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"seed-phrase-security","How to Store a Seed Phrase Safely","Your recovery phrase is the account. Here is how to back it up so a fire, a flood, a thief or a phishing site cannot take your crypto with it.",{"slug":90,"title":91,"excerpt":92,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"token-approvals-and-how-to-revoke-them","Token Approvals and How to Revoke Them","Most wallet drains are not stolen keys. They are permissions the owner granted once and forgot. Here is what an approval is and how to take it back.",{"slug":94,"title":95,"excerpt":96,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"two-factor-authentication-for-crypto-accounts","Two-Factor Authentication for Crypto Accounts","Not all second factors are equal. Why SMS codes are the weakest option, what a security key does that an app cannot, and what to fix first.",{"slug":98,"title":99,"excerpt":100,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"understanding-crypto-exchange-fees","Understanding Crypto Exchange Fees","Trading fees are the smallest part of what an exchange charges you. Here is where the rest of the cost hides, and how to measure it.",{"slug":102,"title":103,"excerpt":104,"topic":15,"updated_at":8},"what-a-smart-contract-audit-proves","What a Smart Contract Audit Does and Does Not Prove","An audit is a review with a scope and a date, not a guarantee. How to read one, and the four things a badge on a website never tells you.",{"slug":106,"title":107,"excerpt":108,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"what-backs-a-stablecoin","What Actually Backs a Stablecoin","A stablecoin is only as stable as whatever stands behind it. The three designs, what an attestation does and does not prove, and the question that matters most.",{"slug":110,"title":111,"excerpt":112,"topic":21,"updated_at":8},"what-happens-when-a-crypto-exchange-fails","What Happens When a Crypto Exchange Fails","If an exchange freezes withdrawals or files for bankruptcy, what actually happens to your balance — and what you can do before that day.",{"slug":114,"title":115,"excerpt":116,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"what-staking-actually-involves","What Staking Actually Involves","Staking is not a savings account. What you commit, what can reduce it, and the difference between doing it yourself and letting a platform do it.",{"slug":118,"title":119,"excerpt":120,"topic":26,"updated_at":8},"what-to-do-if-your-wallet-is-drained","What to Do If Your Wallet Is Drained","The first hour matters, and instinct gives the wrong advice. What can still be saved, what cannot, and why recovery services make it worse.",{"slug":122,"title":123,"excerpt":124,"topic":21,"updated_at":16},"when-an-exchange-freezes-your-withdrawal","When an Exchange Freezes Your Withdrawal","Most frozen withdrawals are a compliance review, not a collapse. How to tell which one you are in, what shortens a hold, and the signals that mean stop waiting.",{"slug":126,"title":127,"excerpt":128,"topic":48,"updated_at":8},"why-a-transaction-is-stuck","Why a Transaction Is Stuck, and What to Do","A pending transaction has not failed and has not happened. Why fees, ordering and nonces leave transactions waiting, and which fixes are real."]