Form 1099-DA Explained: What Your Crypto Exchange Reports to the IRS

What is Form 1099-DA?

Form 1099-DA, “Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions”, is an IRS information return that crypto brokers send to customers and to the IRS to report sales and exchanges of digital assets. It is the crypto equivalent of the Form 1099-B that stockbrokers have issued for decades.

Custodial exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken issued the first 1099-DAs for tax year 2025. Some crypto ATM (kiosk) operators and payment processors that handle digital assets also count as brokers. A separate rule that would have made decentralised finance (DeFi) front-ends file 1099-DAs was repealed by Congress in April 2025, so DeFi trading is not reported on this form.

The key point: because the IRS receives the same form you do, gains and losses on crypto sold through a broker are now matched against your return automatically.

What does Form 1099-DA show?

Form 1099-DA shows what you sold, when, and for how much. For covered assets it also shows what you paid and your gain or loss. These are the boxes that matter most to individual taxpayers:

Box 11 covers optional aggregate reporting for stablecoins and NFTs (see below). Boxes 14–16 hold state tax information.

What changes between tax year 2025 and 2026?

For tax year 2025, Form 1099-DA reports gross proceeds only. From tax year 2026, brokers must also report cost basis for covered digital assets. The phase-in looks like this:

So even in 2027, most long-term holders will see a 1099-DA with proceeds but no basis for coins bought before 2026. Without the basis, the IRS sees only proceeds, which can look like a 100% gain until you report the real figure.

Is your crypto covered or noncovered?

A digital asset is “covered” if it was acquired on or after January 1, 2026 in a custodial broker account, and held in that same account until the broker sold it. Everything else is noncovered, including crypto bought before 2026 and crypto transferred in from another exchange or a self-custody wallet. Use this check for any sale:

The transfer rule catches many people out. Moving coins from one exchange to another, or through your own wallet, breaks the chain. The receiving exchange records the units in boxes 12a and 12b, but it is not required to know what you originally paid.

Why is the cost basis on my 1099-DA blank or wrong?

Cost basis is usually blank because the coins were noncovered: bought before 2026 or transferred in from elsewhere. It can also differ from your records for three reasons:

1. Transfers in: the exchange doesn’t know what you paid on another platform unless you give it acquisition information (box 8 shows whether it relied on information you provided).
2. Lot-selection method: the exchange applies its default method, usually first-in, first-out, unless you choose specific lots. Your tax software may use a different method.
3. Per-wallet tracking: since January 1, 2025, the IRS requires cost basis to be tracked separately for each wallet or account (Revenue Procedure 2024-28). Basis can’t be pooled across all your holdings, so figures from a “universal” spreadsheet may not match a single exchange’s form.

When the form’s basis is blank or wrong, report the correct basis on Form 8949 and keep the records that support it: purchase confirmations, exchange CSV exports, and transfer histories.

How are stablecoins and NFTs reported?

Brokers can use simplified reporting for stablecoins and NFTs. Stablecoin sales may be left off the form entirely if your total for the year is $10,000 or less. Under the IRS instructions:

• Qualifying stablecoins (tokens designed to track a single government currency 1:1, such as USDC or USDT): a broker using the optional method need not report “designated” stablecoin sales if your gross proceeds from them are $10,000 or less for the year. Above that, it reports one aggregate 1099-DA per stablecoin, without basis or dates.
• Specified NFTs: under the optional method, sales are not reported if total proceeds are $600 or less for the year.
• Payment processor sales: sales through a digital-asset payment processor are not reported if they total $600 or less for the year.

Not being reported on the form does not make a sale tax-free. Any gain is still taxable, though stablecoin sales usually produce little or no gain.

What is not on Form 1099-DA?

Form 1099-DA covers sales and exchanges through a broker, not income. These items are reported elsewhere or by you alone:

• Staking, rewards and interest: exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken report these on Form 1099-MISC once they reach $600 in a year. Below that, the income is still taxable and you report it yourself.
• DeFi activity: swaps, lending and liquidity pools on decentralised protocols are not reported by brokers after the 2025 repeal of the DeFi broker rule.
• Self-custody wallets: moving coins between your own wallets is not a sale. Sales you make from a self-custody wallet are reported only by you.
• Exchange apps outside the brokerage account: Kraken, for example, states that its Form 1099-DA does not cover activity in Kraken Wallet or its Ink network.

What should you do with your Form 1099-DA?

Use Form 1099-DA as a checklist of what the IRS already knows, then report every sale correctly on Form 8949 and Schedule D. A practical order:

1. Download every 1099-DA and 1099-MISC from each exchange you used. Most are available only through the exchange’s website, not its app.
2. Export full transaction histories (CSV) from each exchange and wallet. You will need them for transfers and pre-2026 purchases.
3. Match each sale on the form to your own records. Add the cost basis wherever box 1g is blank.
4. Report sales on Form 8949, separating short-term from long-term, and carry totals to Schedule D.
5. Report staking and reward income from Form 1099-MISC, or your own records, as ordinary income.
6. If the form contains an error, such as wrong units or a missing transfer, contact the exchange for a corrected form, and keep a record of the request.

Exchange-specific walkthroughs: Coinbase 1099-DA and tax forms and Kraken 1099-DA and tax forms. All exchange guides are on the exchange desk.

When will you get your Form 1099-DA?

Brokers send 1099-DAs early in the year after the tax year, generally by mid-February, though deadline extensions can push some into March. For tax year 2025, Coinbase said customers would receive their forms no later than March 17, 2026. Each exchange emails customers when forms are ready. You can usually choose paperless delivery in the exchange’s tax settings.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• IRS — About Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions
• IRS — Instructions for Form 1099-DA
• IRS — Revenue Procedure 2024-28 (per-wallet basis tracking)
• House Ways and Means — H.J.Res. 25 repealing the DeFi broker rule (April 10, 2025)
• Kraken — Tax forms support article
• Coinbase — Form 1099-DA help article

This guide is general information about IRS reporting, not tax advice. Tax treatment depends on your circumstances. Consult a qualified tax professional.