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 that total.
The analytics firm 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. Chainalysis 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 payments included merchant services and transfers resembling peer-to-peer payments. Activity inside centralized exchanges was excluded because trades, staking, and lending conducted within internal systems do not appear on public blockchains. The report also did not cover every blockchain, transaction type, or trading venue, so Chainalysis described the $457 billion estimate as a lower boundary.
The United States generated the largest country total at $112.6 billion, divided into $64.6 billion in payments, $30.1 billion in gains, and $17.9 billion in income. North America ranked first among regions with $134.6 billion, ahead of the European Union at $125.1 billion and East Asia at $54.7 billion. Germany followed the US with $24.1 billion, while China accounted for $21 billion, the United Kingdom $19.4 billion, India $19 billion, Brazil $16.1 billion, Canada $15.1 billion, Japan $13.2 billion, Russia $13 billion, and Thailand $12.5 billion.
Developed by the OECD in 2022, CARF creates a system for participating tax authorities to exchange information about crypto transactions across borders. Reporting Crypto-Asset Service Providers must collect customer details and submit transaction data to authorities. Data collection started on Jan. 1, 2026, in 48 jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom and EU members, with exchanges of information due to begin in 2027 and later for other jurisdictions. Still, CARF-covered events represented just 14% of potentially taxable onchain activity identified in the report.
Chainalysis highlighted that DeFi and private wallets leave transaction histories incomplete. A decentralized exchange may operate through smart contracts without a central custodian, while private wallets allow users to hold assets, interact with protocols, and transfer funds without passing through a reporting platform. Cost basis also creates problems when assets move between platforms, and aggregate reports may lack transaction-level detail. South Korea has said its planned 22% crypto tax will cover income from private wallets and exchanges starting Jan. 1, 2027, though its National Tax Service acknowledged practical limits in finding every unreported private-wallet transaction.
To address missing data, Chainalysis said tax agencies can use blockchain analysis to follow transfers, detect interactions with decentralized or foreign platforms, and identify income from mining, staking, lending, or liquidity provision. In May, Italian authorities traced more than €1 million, about $1.1 million, in alleged undeclared Ordinals gains after examining a seized hardware wallet and following proceeds from Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 token sales.
