TL;DR
- Starting in 2026, crypto exchanges will be required to collect tax data and, from 2027 onward, automatically share it across countries under the OECD’s CARF standard.
- The CARF framework covers exchanges, decentralized protocols, brokers, and crypto ATMs, all of which will be required to report prices, gains, and users’ tax residency.
- Global tax coordination turns transaction reporting into a structural condition of the market.
From 2026, crypto exchanges will be required to collect and retain detailed tax data on their users. From 2027, that information will be automatically shared across countries. The change stems from the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a standard developed by the OECD that will redefine how governments track crypto holdings worldwide.
The rollout begins with 48 jurisdictions that will start recording transactions in 2026. A second group of 27 countries, including Canada, Australia, Mexico, and Switzerland, will join from January 2027. Automatic information exchanges between tax authorities will start that same year and expand in 2028. More than 75 countries have already confirmed their participation.
CARF’s scope goes beyond centralized exchanges. The reporting obligation also applies to certain decentralized protocols, brokers, dealers, and crypto ATMs. Providers will be required to record purchase prices, sale prices, gains or losses, and the user’s tax residency. The objective is to eliminate gray areas in the taxation of digital assets and leave no room for tax omission.
Tax authorities are already preparing to use this data. In the United Kingdom, HM Revenue & Customs has increased the number of warning letters sent to crypto investors and added dedicated sections on digital assets to annual tax returns. Oversight will shift from reactive to systematic.
The change overturns a core assumption of the crypto market. For years, limited international coordination allowed activity to operate with restricted visibility. That scenario is ending. From 2027 onward, authorities will be able to identify transactions, balances, and gains across multiple jurisdictions without requiring individual information requests.
CARF Delivers a Heavy Blow to Financial Privacy
Although CARF formally limits its use to tax purposes, its impact extends far beyond taxation. The accumulation of financial and identity data represents a major blow to financial privacy. The system does not ban the use of cryptocurrencies or alter their technical nature, but it does place crypto activity within a supervisory framework comparable to that of the traditional financial system.
For investors, reporting transactions will stop being a recommendation and become a structural requirement of the market. Exchanges will have to shift focus away from commercial expansion and toward implementing reporting systems aligned with global standards
