Increased crypto adoption is attracting greater attention and scrutiny from tax authorities.
The Trump administration has brought greater legitimacy to the crypto and DeFi industries, and as a result, countries such as the United States, Korea, and Brazil are considering new tax regulations for crypto transactions.
On Nov. 17, the White House proposed new rules from the Treasury Department, which would see the U.S. cooperate with the Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), an international crypto tax agreement.
CARF was formed in 2022 and already involves crypto-friendly nations such as the UAE and Japan, as well as other G8 countries, including Canada and Germany.
In the United States, crypto is treated as property, meaning it is subject to capital gains taxes but exempt from certain rules that apply to equities, such as the prohibition on wash trading.
This move came alongside the introduction of the Bitcoin For America Act by Rep. Warren Davidson earlier this week. The bill would allow Americans to pay federal taxes in Bitcoin, which would go directly to a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve under the Trump administration’s goal to make the US the “crypto capital of the world.”
On Nov. 18, it was reported that Brazil is considering expanding its financial transaction tax to cover cross-border transfers involving digital assets such as stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies. Currently, crypto transactions in Brazil are taxed as capital gains, but under the new change, set to go live in 2026, cross-border crypto transactions would be taxed similarly to foreign exchange transactions.
Meanwhile, Korea is preparing for a crypto tax update in 2027, which will impose a flat 20% tax on cryptocurrency trading profits. However, it is worth noting that this change has been delayed multiple times since 2021, so it remains to be seen if the rule will officially go into effect in two years. Until then, Korea also levies capital gains taxes on cryptocurrency trading.
