There are 2070 kinds of tokens in circulation, with a total market cap of $209.5 billion. Bitcoin tokens alone account for $112.4 billion of that.
And while it’s been a bearish year for Bitcoin, a recent survey of fintech leaders anticipates its value to rise 220 percent by the end of 2019. Research by Stasis also supports a promising future for cryptos, projecting a trade volume growth of 50 percent through next year.
Cryptos are more popular than ever. A survey of the intersection between crypto enthusiasts and reddit users found first timers have tended to adopt crypto in step with valuation booms. “The peaks unsurprisingly follow the growth of the cryptocurrency market,” the results read, “with the two biggest years being 2013 and 2017 by a significant margin. Within 2017 the same trend shows, with most people entering crypto May through to August which coincided with the end of Ethereum’s big bull run up to $400 and Bitcoin’s run up to $5000.”
Those surveyed, overwhelmingly college educated males with a median age between 26 and 30, are confident in their knowledge about blockchain and tend towards crypto evangelism. About 40 percent said they check the price of their coins over ten times per day, with 94 percent checking at least once daily.
All This Interest in Crypto Has Alerted the Old Guard
With crypto values rising, and public interest along with it, the federal government has lumbered to life and started investigating cryptospace to the best of their ability. Which apparently means paying others to do it for them. Paying a lot. According to research by Diar, public records show US government agencies like the FBI, ICE, the SEC, and of course the IRS, have cumulatively spent $5.7 million hiring blockchain analysis companies. Two thirds of that spending has been in the last year, since Bitcoin’s big surge.
Perhaps all that analysis will help the IRS to finally clarify how they intend to tax cryptocurrencies. As of now, the only information they’ve released is a brief notice from 2014 mumbling to the public that the IRS is “aware” of “virtual currency,” and they consider it “property.” It’s very little to go on, but their silence and their heavy spending on analysis suggests they’re trying to catch up.
Investors Are Wondering How to Fulfill Their Tax Obligations
Meanwhile, we’re in the fourth quarter of crypto’s most popular year yet, and investors are looking back at the fiscal year wondering what they can do to stay in good standing. But bookkeeping gets complicated with crypto, because transaction data isn’t standardized.
With thousands of cryptos being traded across many different exchanges and every exchange reporting differently, not to mention wallet-to-wallet transactions that don’t involve an exchange, there’s no consistency in how to keep crypto books. If there were industry standards for recording and reporting transactions, that would be another story. But crypto is still young, and let’s be honest, nobody really knows what they’re doing.
So squaring up with tax responsibilities is no simple task. In fact, it’s a bit of a mystery at this point.
Who’s Solving the Problem?
While the fed scratches its noggin, champions of the private sector are stepping in to deliver solutions for companies and investors who need crypto bookkeeping. Libra is one that offers real time blockchain auditing tools “to automate and optimize middle and back office processes and reporting, while improving operational and financial analysis and control.”
Another SaaS to look into, one that’s optimized for the single investor while still useful to a company or a fund, is Profitstance. Their tools are designed to keep you up to speed on the tax consequences of every crypto transaction, again in real time. They say they guarantee the 100 percent accuracy of their calculations, and they’ll pay your IRS fines and interest if they’re wrong. With someone else taking on that much responsibility for your numbers, hopefully you can sleep (and trade) a little bit easier.
Alternatively, you can hire a team of CPAs who know crypto, like those at Camuso, and just let them handle everything for you. For the DIY types, you can use utilities like CryptoTrader.Tax to autofill your 8949 (it’s under development, but you can sign up to get the latest release when it’s ready).
So don’t stress about taxes, even if you’re among the many newcomers to the ever-expanding crypto game. We’re making this up as we fly forward into it, but there are plenty of people offering support to make sure you don’t get caught in a wrestling match with the IRS.
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