The post Coinbase survey finds over half of customers don’t understand crypto tax appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

More than half of cryptocurrency investors don’t understand the fundamental concept of taxability when it comes to their digital asset holdings, according to a survey by the U.S.-listed crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN) and Cointracker, a crypto tax and portfolio tracking platform. The 2026 Crypto Tax Readiness Report found that only 49% correctly understand that crypto is taxable anytime it is sold, while almost a quarter mistakenly believe simple transfers trigger tax events. Despite the majority of users having good intentions when it comes to crypto tax compliance, the multi-platform reality of crypto ownership exacerbates the so-called cost basis problem, deducting the original purchase price of an asset to report capital gains. The survey found users averaged 2.5 platforms/wallets with 83% using self-custodial wallets, and only 35% reporting that they’d adjusted their cost basis in the past. The survey, conducted in late 2025, surveyed 3,000 U.S. crypto users. The confusion around cost basis in the new 1099-DA forms is made worse thanks to a degree of overreporting built into the new regime, Coinbase says. This is because everyday activities like stablecoin payments and Ethereum gas fees trigger taxable events, while generating little meaningful tax revenue. Coinbase said it expects to issue over four million 1099-DAs Forms to customers with under $600 of proceeds – added to the fact that over 60 percent of its customers have incomplete cost basis data due to the way digital assets move across wallets and platforms. “Today, that means every stablecoin payment, every small DeFi [decentralized finance] transaction, every gas fee is technically a taxable event,” Coinbase said. “The compliance burden this imposes on ordinary Americans isn’t just inconvenient – it’s a direct threat to the adoption and innovation the GENIUS Act was designed to unlock.” Despite the wrinkles, the move to standardized reporting of crypto…

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Filed under: News - @ March 30, 2026 11:32 am