$457 Billion in Taxable Crypto Activity Fails to Reach Regulators
A recent report by Chainalysis estimates that potentially taxable crypto activity on major public blockchains reached at least $457 billion worldwide in 2025. However, the firm argues that current international tax reporting rules will likely capture only a minority of this activity.
The report found that the United States accounted for an estimated $112.6 billion, while North America led all regions with $134.6 billion. The European Union followed with $125.1 billion. Chainalysis' figures focus on realized gains and income from activities such as mining, staking, lending, and crypto-denominated payments across six major blockchains.
The analysis excludes activity conducted within centralized exchanges. Chainalysis notes that CARF-covered transactions account for an estimated 14% of the taxable onchain activity it identified, with 86% occurring beyond the reporting perimeter. This highlights a central mismatch: taxable crypto behavior is heavily onchain and fragmented, while reporting obligations under CARF are structured around intermediaries.
The report suggests that decentralized finance activity may remain largely uncovered because CARF is built around identifiable intermediaries and reporting obligations tied to centralized service providers. Colby Mangels, a former OECD adviser who worked on CARF, stated that the framework was designed around intermediaries that can be regulated and required to report.