Crypto tax rules may miss 86% of $457B in onchain activity, Chainalysis says

Chainalysis has estimated that potentially taxable onchain crypto activity exceeded $457 billion worldwide in 2025, while transactions within the practical reach of international reporting rules represented only 14% of the total. Summary Potentially taxable onchain crypto activity exceeded $457 billion globally during 2025. CARF-covered transactions represented only 14% of the activity identified by Chainalysis. The United States led individual countries with an estimated $112.6 billion. DeFi, private wallets, income streams, and peer-to-peer payments create reporting gaps. Chainalysis said in an Aug. 26 crypto tax report that the other 86% included decentralized exchange activity, peer-to-peer transfers, onchain income and crypto payments that fall outside the practical scope of the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. The analytics firm examined realized gains, income, and payments across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, BNB Smart Chain, and Base. Its income category covered mining, staking, lending, and gambling, while the payments estimate included merchant services and transfers that resembled peer-to-peer payments. Activity recorded inside centralized exchanges was exclud...