Key Highlights
- 17,600 UK individuals reported crypto disposals liable for Capital Gains Tax in 2024-25.
- Their combined disposal proceeds reached £13.8 billion, generating reported gains of £1.38 billion.
- 240 taxpayers declared more than £1 million in crypto capital gains, accounting for £717 million ($975 million) of the total.
The UK has released its first dedicated statistics on taxable cryptoasset gains, showing that 17,600 individuals reported Capital Gains Tax-liable crypto disposals during the 2024-25 tax year.
According to figures published by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on August 27, those taxpayers reported £13.8 billion($18.8 billion) in disposal proceeds and £1.38 billion in capital gains.
The figures provide the first official breakdown of crypto capital gains reported through the UK’s Self Assessment system after HMRC introduced a dedicated cryptoasset section.
A small group accounted for more than half the gains
The reported gains were concentrated among a relatively small number of taxpayers.
HMRC said 240 individuals reported more than £1 million ($1.36 million) each in crypto capital gains during 2024-25. Together, they declared £717 million ($975 million), representing more than half, or roughly 52%, of the £1.38 billion total.
The data also shows a significant gender difference among taxpayers reporting crypto gains. Approximately 87% were male, while 13% were female.
The figures only cover gains declared through tax returns and therefore do not represent all crypto profits earned by UK residents.
What counts as a crypto disposal
The £1.38 billion figure covers cryptoasset disposals that fall within the UK’s Capital Gains Tax rules.
These can include:
- Selling crypto for fiat currency
- Exchanging one cryptoasset for another
- Using crypto to pay for goods or services
- Certain transfers of cryptoassets
Crypto-related income is treated separately in some circumstances. Income from activities such as mining or staking can fall under Income Tax rules rather than the Capital Gains Tax section used for these statistics.
As a result, the HMRC figures should not be interpreted as a measure of total crypto-related income or economic activity in the UK.
CARF will add another source of tax information
The figures come as the UK’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF) moves into its reporting phase.
Cryptoasset service providers began their CARF due diligence and record-keeping obligations on January 1, 2026. The first reports, covering 2026 activity, are due between January and May 2027.
Under CARF, reporting providers must collect customer information and relevant transaction data and submit it to HMRC. The framework also provides for information exchange between participating jurisdictions.
Providers that fail to comply can face penalties of up to £300 per user.
The additional reporting will give HMRC transaction information that can be compared with taxpayer declarations.
Global onchain activity is much larger
The UK data represents only a small part of the wider crypto tax landscape.
A separate Chainalysis analysis published August 26 estimated that potentially taxable onchain crypto activity reached at least $457 billion globally in 2025. The United States accounted for approximately $112.6 billion.
The estimate includes activity associated with trading gains, mining, staking, lending, gambling, and crypto-denominated payments.
Chainalysis describes the figure as a lower-bound estimate because its methodology does not capture activity occurring inside centralized exchanges and does not cover every blockchain or transaction venue.
The company also identified DeFi, peer-to-peer transfers and self-custody wallets as areas where tax authorities can face difficulties obtaining complete transaction information.
Tax authorities combine returns with blockchain data
Crypto tax enforcement increasingly relies on several sources of information rather than tax returns alone.
Tax authorities can obtain customer and transaction records from centralized service providers, while blockchain analytics can be used to examine activity involving public wallet addresses and decentralized platforms.
For HMRC, the new statistics provide a baseline for crypto capital gains voluntarily reported through Self Assessment. CARF will add information collected directly from reporting cryptoasset service providers.
The two sources can potentially help identify differences between declared gains and transaction activity recorded elsewhere, although the data does not automatically establish that a taxpayer has underreported income or gains.
January 2027 is the next major tax deadline
HMRC has also reminded crypto holders that income and gains from the 2025-26 tax year must be reported where Self Assessment rules apply.
The deadline for reporting and paying tax is January 31, 2027.
HMRC also operates a Crypto Disclosure Service for taxpayers seeking to disclose previously unpaid crypto-related tax.
The tax authority separately estimated that its broader crypto compliance and education work generated £168 million ($228 million) in additional Capital Gains Tax during 2024-25. That figure relates to wider compliance activity and should not be treated as the tax generated from the £1.38 billion in crypto gains reported in the latest statistics.
The new data establishes HMRC’s first dedicated picture of declared crypto capital gains, while CARF reporting and blockchain analysis will provide additional information for tax authorities as crypto activity continues to move across exchanges, wallets and decentralized platforms.
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