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How EU Crypto Tax Laws Are Set to Work in Practice

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How EU Crypto Tax Laws Are Set to Work in Practice

Key takeaways

  • The EU’s new crypto tax rules do not introduce new taxes but expand tax transparency by ensuring that crypto transactions are reported and shared across member states.

  • Reporting obligations fall primarily on crypto-asset service providers, requiring them to collect user identity information, tax residency details and transaction data in a standardized format.

  • Information reported by platforms will be automatically exchanged among EU tax authorities, reducing cross-border reporting gaps for crypto users.

  • The framework aligns with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s global crypto reporting standard, increasing compatibility with non-EU jurisdictions.

The European Union is set to significantly enhance its monitoring of cryptocurrency transactions for tax purposes. Starting Jan. 1, 2026, updated reporting obligations require crypto platforms operating in the EU or serving EU users to provide detailed information on users and their transactions to tax authorities. This change aligns digital assets more closely with the transparency requirements long established in conventional finance.

The key legislation driving this shift is Council Directive (EU) 2023/2226, commonly known as DAC8. It expands the EU’s existing framework for the automatic exchange of tax information to include crypto assets. Paired with the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation, DAC8 represents a major step in regulating the crypto sector. It focuses specifically on taxation rather than solely on market conduct or licensing.

This article explains how the new EU crypto tax reporting system will work, outlines the obligations for platforms and examines the implications for individual users as the rules take effect.

Why DAC8 is being introduced: Closing the gap from banks to blockchains

For more than a decade, EU countries have used the Directive on Administrative Cooperation (DAC) to automatically share tax-related financial data across borders. Previous iterations covered bank accounts, investment income and certain digital platforms, but crypto transactions were largely exempt from routine reporting.

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As cryptocurrency adoption grew in Europe, this exemption created clear loopholes for potential tax evasion. EU authorities viewed it as inconsistent to exempt crypto solely because of its technological basis.

DAC8 aims to close this gap by formally incorporating crypto assets into the tax transparency system, ensuring that transaction data is gathered, reported and exchanged in a manner similar to traditional financial information. The European Commission has emphasized that crypto deserves no special exemption from tax enforcement.

Alignment with the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF)

The EU built DAC8 around the CARF, which was launched in 2023. The CARF sets a global benchmark for crypto transaction reporting by specifying:

  • Which crypto assets qualify for reporting

  • Which entities must report

  • The specific user and transaction details required.

By adopting the CARF model, the EU promotes consistency with international standards, making it easier to share data with non-EU countries that implement similar rules.

Did you know? Before crypto-specific rules, several EU tax authorities relied on blockchain analytics firms instead of formal reporting to estimate crypto activity, often producing significantly different figures for the same market.

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Scope of DAC8: Covered assets and platforms

The focus of DAC8 is on crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) operating in the EU. These include centralized exchanges, brokers, custodial wallets and similar intermediaries. The rules cover a broad range of assets, including most cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokenized assets and certain non-fungible tokens that function more like investment vehicles than pure collectibles. The emphasis is on transferability and investment use rather than on specific labels.

The obligations extend beyond EU-based platforms. Non-EU providers serving EU users may also need to comply, highlighting the directive’s extraterritorial impact.

Timeline and implementation of DAC8

Adopted in October 2023, DAC8 required transposition into national law by Dec. 31, 2025, with application starting on Jan. 1, 2026. As of early 2026, some member states have faced delays or infringement notices for incomplete transposition, though the EU expects full enforcement.

Key dates include:

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  • Platforms began collecting relevant data on Jan. 1, 2026.

  • The first reports, covering 2026 activity, will be submitted to national tax authorities in 2027, typically within nine months of year-end.

  • Tax authorities then automatically exchange the data annually with other EU countries.

The commission has signaled that it expects timely and full implementation. Several countries have received formal notices for delays in transposing the rules, underlining that enforcement will not be optional.

Did you know? Early drafts of EU crypto tax proposals debated whether self-custody wallets could ever be subject to reporting, highlighting how difficult it is to regulate decentralized ownership.

Reporting requirements for platforms in DAC8

Under DAC8, CASPs are required to perform enhanced due diligence and submit detailed information to their local tax authority. This includes user details such as full name, address, tax residency and tax identification number (TIN), if available.

Transaction data includes:

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  • Types of crypto transactions, such as sales, exchanges and transfers

  • Gross proceeds from disposals

  • Dates and values of transactions.

After collection, this information is automatically shared among EU tax authorities. A user’s country of residence receives the relevant data even if the platform is located in a different country.

For platforms, DAC8 makes crypto tax reporting a structured, recurring compliance obligation. It more closely resembles financial reporting than ad hoc disclosures.

Impact of DAC8 on crypto users

One of the most significant changes for crypto users is increased tax reporting transparency under DAC8. National tax authorities can now view transactions conducted on reporting platforms.

This may result in:

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  • Requests for more detailed tax residency or identification information during account setup or updates

  • Greater ability for authorities to match crypto activity against declared income on tax returns

  • Easier detection of inconsistencies between reported data and tax filings.

DAC8 does not introduce new taxes or standardize rates across the EU. Member states retain authority over crypto taxation policies, as the directive focuses solely on information exchange. While DAC8 automates data exchange between authorities, users are still required to report their crypto activity through their respective national tax returns.

Compliance challenges for platforms under DAC8

Implementing DAC8 requires significant upgrades, including accurate transaction tracking, tax residency verification and secure data storage. Smaller or less-resourced providers may struggle to meet these obligations alongside MiCA and Anti-Money Laundering requirements.

Non-compliance carries the risk of penalties, including fines for late, incomplete or missing reports. Some platforms have indicated that regulatory compliance costs may influence where they choose to operate.

Users may also face confusion in understanding DAC8 in the context of MiCA. DAC8 addresses tax transparency behind the scenes, while MiCA covers licensing, investor safeguards and market conduct.

The two are complementary: DAC8 ensures tax data flows once services are active, while MiCA defines permissible operations. Together, they create a comprehensive oversight framework for the crypto economy.

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Certain aspects remain unclear under DAC8, such as how decentralized finance (DeFi) fits in when no central intermediary exists to report to. Privacy advocates have raised concerns about extensive data collection and sharing, though EU officials note that the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other data protection laws continue to apply. It remains to be seen how these safeguards will operate in practice.

Did you know? Similar crypto tax reporting models are being explored in Asia-Pacific and Latin America, suggesting that EU-style transparency could become a global norm rather than a regional exception.

DAC8 in the broader context

DAC8 forms part of a global trend as crypto integrates into mainstream finance. Governments worldwide are increasingly treating it as part of the mainstream financial system rather than as a parallel economy viewed with suspicion.

By adopting OECD-aligned standards and enabling cross-border exchanges, the EU underscores that crypto will face the same transparency demands as traditional assets. For users and platforms in Europe, the period of limited formal tax oversight is effectively ending.

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Inside LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman’s Ethereum Holdings

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Inside LinkedIn Founder Reid Hoffman's Ethereum Holdings


Former PayPal colleagues split strategies, as Hoffman goes long on Ethereum while Musk aligns with Bitcoin through corporate treasuries.

Reid Hoffman, the prominent venture capitalist and co-founder of the world’s leading professional networking service, LinkedIn, is heavily invested in Ethereum, according to Arkham Intelligence.

Data cited by the firm shows Hoffman holds $6.1 million worth of ETH in a publicly known address. He also owns a CryptoPunk NFT, which was purchased for 150 ETH late last year.

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Investment in Xapo

Hoffman has been a long-time supporter of crypto. He even led Greylock’s 2014 Series A investment in Xapo, a firm that built a Bitcoin wallet platform. He had then commented,

“Bitcoin has the potential to be a massively disruptive technology. It is the leading digital currency and it’s growing fast. As an investor and technologist, I am interested in bitcoin on three levels: As an asset, (i.e. a digital alternative to gold); as a currency (to create a new transactional layer on the internet); and as a platform (to build alternative kinds of financial applications).”

Nearly a decade later, in August 2023, Hoffman announced he would not act as a general partner in Greylock’s upcoming funds and instead opted to remain involved as a venture partner.

Meanwhile, his former PayPal colleague Elon Musk is backing Bitcoin, as Tesla, Inc. and SpaceX hold a combined $1.3 billion in Bitcoin on their balance sheets.

Short-Lived Gains

Earlier this week, Bitcoin and Ethereum each attracted gains after positive sentiment generated by a major US political speech by Donald Trump. But on Friday, both assets were slightly lower in early trading as broader technology stocks retreated.

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Additionally, broader institutional activity shows large stakeholders dynamically adjusting positions: analytics data indicate that SpaceX moved over 1,000 BTC (approximately $94.5 million in value at that time) to Coinbase Prime in late 2025 amid speculation about the company’s future public offering.

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On the Ethereum side, significant planned divestments by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have drawn attention in recent weeks for the magnitude of tokens moved, even though the market remained largely unfazed by these sales.

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South Korea National Tax Service’s Mistake Resulted In $4.8 Million Crypto Loss

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South Korea National Tax Service’s Mistake Resulted In $4.8 Million Crypto Loss

South Korea National Tax Service just made a costly mistake resulting a huge crypto loss.

In an official press release, the agency published unredacted photos that exposed crypto wallet seed phrases. Within hours, an unknown actor used the information to drain 4 million Ethereum-based tokens, nominally worth $4.8 million, from seized wallets before returning them.

The funds were not dumped, but the incident exposes a serious operational security failure. It highlights the risks governments face when handling self-custodied digital assets without proper technical safeguards.

Key Takeaways

  • The Lapse: NTS press materials included high-resolution images of handwritten recovery phrases for seized Ledger hardware wallets.
  • The Asset: 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens were taken, holding a theoretical value of $4.8 million but near-zero market liquidity.
  • The Outcome: The attacker funded the wallets with ETH for gas, moved the tokens, and eventually returned them to the original address.

The Leak: Tax Agency Publishes Ethereum Private Keys

On February 26, the National Tax Service announced it had seized roughly 8.1 billion KRW, about $5.61 million, from repeat tax delinquents. To showcase the enforcement action, officials released photos of the confiscated items, including a display labeled “Case 3.”

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Source: ntw

The problem was in the details. The images showed Ledger hardware wallets next to a sheet of paper with the 12-word seed phrases fully visible.

A local professor described the mistake bluntly, comparing it to publicly inviting someone to empty your wallet. The incident highlights a basic but critical gap in technical handling, especially as authorities increasingly seize and manage digital assets.

On-Chain Data: The Swipe and Return

On-chain data shows the wallets were drained soon after the photos went public. An unknown actor first sent a small amount of ETH to cover gas fees, then transferred 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens to a new address.

Source: Etherscan

That amount represented roughly 40% of the token’s total supply. While early reports valued the stash at $4.8 million, liquidity tells a different story. The only active trading pair shows minimal volume, and even a small sell order would have crushed the price. Cashing out at scale was nearly impossible.

The tokens were later returned to the original wallets. Whether this was a white-hat action or simple realization that the assets were illiquid is unclear.

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The episode highlights a basic custody failure. The original owner used a hardware wallet for security, but that protection was undone when authorities photographed the seed phrase. The NTS has not yet issued a detailed statement, and the incident raises questions about how seized crypto assets will be handled going forward.

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Analysts Reject Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation, Bitcoin ETF Demand Rises

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Analysts Reject Jane Street Bitcoin Manipulation, Bitcoin ETF Demand Rises

This week, rumors of a “10 a.m. Bitcoin dump” blamed on quantitative trading company Jane Street gained traction online after it was sued by Terraform Labs’ court-appointed administrator, but market watchers said the data does not support a consistent, company-driven selloff.

The accusations mounted a day after Jane Street was sued by Terraform Labs’ administrator amid allegations of insider trading that worsened the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022.

Elsewhere in the market, demand for spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds returned after five consecutive weeks of net negative outflows. US-listed spot Bitcoin ETFs took in over $1 billion in three consecutive days this week, with $254 million in cumulative inflows on Thursday, according to Farside Investors data.

Corporate Ether treasuries also came under pressure. The leader in corporate Ether (ETH), Bitmine Immersion Technologies, was seen facing an $8.8 billion paper loss on its holdings amid the ongoing market downturn.

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US Spot Bitcoin ETF Flows, in USD million. Source: Farside Investors

Analysts reject Jane Street “10 a.m. dump” claims, say Bitcoin isn’t easily manipulated

Cryptocurrency investors accused quantitative trading company Jane Street of pressuring Bitcoin’s price with a daily, programmatic sell-off at the US market open, but market analysts and data suggest the pattern is not consistent, and no single company can force Bitcoin into a prolonged bear market.

The claims surged online a day after Terraform Labs’ court-appointed administrator sued Jane Street, alleging insider trading tied to transactions that worsened the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin ecosystem in May 2022.

Several market watchers, including crypto influencer Justin Bechler, have argued that Jane Street’s holding of BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF), known as IBIT, could mask a net short Bitcoin position through hedges that do not appear in public filings. Bechler argued that Jane Street conducted coordinated algorithmic selling of Bitcoin at 10 a.m. EST daily, manipulating the Bitcoin (BTC) price to buy the ETF at a discount.

”When Jane Street reports holding $790 million in IBIT shares, the filing tells you nothing about whether those shares are hedged by puts, offset by short futures, or wrapped in a collar that makes the firm’s net Bitcoin exposure zero or even negative,” wrote Bechler, adding that the ”actual position could be a massive short that looks like a long because the offsetting half of the trade is invisible under current disclosure rules.”

CryptoQuant’s head of research, Julio Moreno, cautioned that the activity Bechler described is not unique to one company. He said buying spot exposure while selling futures is a common approach for delta-neutral funds seeking to capture spreads rather than directional price moves.

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Jane Street’s latest 13-F filing also disclosed holdings in Strategy, as well as sizable positions in Bitcoin mining companies Bitfarms, Cipher Mining and Hut 8.

Source: Julio Moreno

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Vitalik sells 17,000 ETH in one month after earmarking $45 million for privacy

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has reduced his Ether balance by about 17,000 ETH in one month after announcing plans to earmark $45 million worth of tokens for privacy projects.

Buterin’s wallets tracked by Arkham held about 241,000 Ether (ETH) in early February, before a series of outflows reduced the combined balance to 224,000 ETH on Tuesday.

The reduction came amid continued selling by Buterin, including about 2,961 Ether worth $6.6 million over a three-day period earlier in the month. Onchain analysts reported that this accelerated recently as he sold $7 million worth of tokens in three days.

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Buterin’s ETH balance declines since February. Source: Arkham

Arkham Intelligence data shows the ETH sales were routed via decentralized exchange (DEX) aggregator CoW Protocol using numerous smaller swaps instead of one large transaction, a method typically employed to minimize market impact.

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Bitmine paper loss nears $8.8 billion as Ether slump tests cyclical thesis

Corporate Ether treasuries are coming under increasing pressure as the crypto downturn deepens, with analysts warning the market is approaching a make-or-break phase for Ether’s investment case.

Bitmine Immersion Technologies, one of the biggest corporate holders of Ether (ETH), is sitting on a large unrealized loss as ETH trades well below the company’s average acquisition price, according to third-party tracker Bitminetracker. Some estimates put Bitmine’s paper losses in the $8.8 billion range after Ether’s slide over recent months.

ETH’s price has fallen 60% during the past six months, dropping well below Bitmine’s average cost basis of $3,843 per token, Bitminetracker data shows.

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Crypto research outlet 10x Research said Monday that Ether is now trading near valuation and cost-basis levels that test whether the asset is simply in a cyclical downturn or entering a period of deeper, structural weakness.

 “Investors must therefore assess carefully whether the asset is simply in a cyclical downturn or entering a phase of deeper structural impairment.”

Bitmine continues to buy ETH despite the mounting paper losses. Last week, Bitmine acquired 45,749 Ether at an average aggregate cost basis of $1,992 per ETH, signaling confidence from the world’s largest Ether treasury firm.

Source: 10x Research

Big Wall Street participants are maintaining exposure to Bitmine despite the market downturn.

The top 11 Bitmine shareholders, including Morgan Stanley, Ark Investment Management and asset manager BlackRock, have all increased their exposure to the treasury company during the fourth quarter of 2025.

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Bitmine’s stock price has fallen by about 59% over the past six months and traded at $19.68 in the pre-market on Monday, data from Google Finance showed.

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Aave surpasses $1 trillion in lending volume amid institutional expansion

Decentralized finance protocol Aave has surpassed $1 trillion in cumulative lending volume, marking a historic first in the DeFi industry.

“A decade ago, DeFi and Aave didn’t exist. They were just ideas. Today, Aave stands as the backbone of onchain lending, powering a new financial system that is open, global, and unstoppable,” Aave Labs CEO Stani Kulechov said in an X post on Wednesday.

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The feat marked another step toward Aave’s goal of becoming the “largest, most efficient liquidity network in the world,” Kulechov added. “One that builders, banks, and fintechs plug into by default, fundamentally improving liquidity and cost structures across global finance.”

Source: Aave

In August, Aave Labs launched Aave Horizon, a new lending market on Ethereum, specifically for traditional finance firms and other institutional investors to borrow stablecoins against real-world assets.

VanEck, WisdomTree and Securitize were among the first participants to use Aave’s institutional offering.

On Feb. 15, Kulechov said DeFi lending could benefit from tokenizing “abundance assets,” such as solar, batteries for energy storage and robotics for labor. He expects those assets to be worth a combined $50 trillion by 2050.

Kulechov originally launched Aave as ETHLend in November 2017 before rebranding to Aave in September 2018. It now secures over $27.2 billion in total value locked, enabling users to earn interest on deposits and borrow instantly using crypto as collateral.

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Aave leads several prominent DeFi lending platforms in TVL, including Morpho, JustLend, SparkLend, Maple, Kamin Lend and Compound Finance, each of which holds over $1 billion in total value locked.

Aave has generated over $83.3 million in fees over the last 30 days, nearly four times that of its next-closest competitor, Morpho.

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Curve founder says DeFi must ditch token emissions for real revenue

Decentralized finance (DeFi) can no longer rely on inflationary token incentives to sustain growth, according to Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov. 

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In an interview with Cointelegraph, Egorov said protocols must generate real revenue rather than depend on emissions to attract liquidity.

“Your yield should come from revenues, not from tokens,” Egorov told Cointelegraph. “You need real revenues flowing.” He added that if a token “is not doing something, maybe it’s better for you to not do token at all.”

Egorov contrasted the current environment with the “DeFi summer” of 2020, when triple-digit and even 1,000% annual percentage rates drew capital into new protocols. He said that at the time, speculative premiums drove token prices and bootstrapped total value locked (TVL) for protocols. 

“Right now, news doesn’t change prices of tokens anymore,” he told Cointelegraph, arguing that users have “re-evaluated the risks.”

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DeFi TVL in the last six months. Source: DefiLlama

His comments came as DeFi’s TVL has fallen about 38% over the past six months, according to DefiLlama. Data from the analytics platform shows TVL dropped from $158 billion on Aug. 23, 2025, to about $98 billion as of Monday.

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DeFi market overview

According to data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView, most of the 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization ended the week in the green.

The Pippin (PIPPIN) token rose 55% as the week’s biggest gainer in the top 100, followed by the Decred (DCR) token, up over 44% during the past week.

Total value locked in DeFi. Source: DefiLlama

Thanks for reading our summary of this week’s most impactful DeFi developments. Join us next Friday for more stories, insights and education regarding this dynamically advancing space.