Trump, Crypto Tax, and the Headlines You Should Stop Believing
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The noise is loud. But noise is not law. And making tax decisions based on headlines is one of the most expensive mistakes a crypto investor can make. Let me tell you what is actually real.
Is Trump no tax on crypto?
No. As of the 2025 tax year, there is no law eliminating taxes on cryptocurrency in the United States. President Trump has expressed strong support for the crypto industry and his administration has signalled interest in reform, but no crypto tax exemption has been signed into law. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and all other digital assets remain subject to capital gains tax and income tax under current IRS rules. Until Congress passes legislation and the president signs it, you are required to report and pay tax on all crypto disposals, income, and gains as normal.
Trump crypto tax: Fact vs. Fiction
Want to know what is real when it comes to Trump and crypto tax? Guess no more! The CountDeFi team has rounded up the claims, rules, and bills to summarise the 2025 crypto landscape in a Trumpian era:
There's a lot of fiction right there. What is very much real is the current IRS reporting requirements. My 2026 Guide on Trump-Era Crypto Tax Rules has you covered.
The Crypto Tax Fail: One Big Beautiful Bill (July 2025)
In July 2025, Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill — a sweeping piece of legislation covering tips, overtime pay, and the child tax credit. One Big Beautiful Bill did not include any crypto tax changes. A proposed de minimis exemption championed by Senator Cynthia Lummis, which would have reduced capital gains taxes on smaller everyday crypto transactions, failed to receive the required votes. Lummis is still working to pass it separately.
One Big Beautiful Bill Changed Nothing in Crypto Tax
- Trump signed the One Big Beautiful Bill in July 2025.
- A crypto tax exemption was proposed for the bill — it did not make the final cut.
- Senator Lummis's de minimis exemption failed to get the required votes and was removed before signing.
- Crypto taxes are unchanged. The headlines got ahead of the legislation.
What Trump Has Actually Signed Into Law on Crypto Taxes
President Trump has been genuinely pro-crypto since taking office. His administration has moved faster on digital asset policy than any before it. But pro-crypto and tax-free crypto are not the same thing. Let's take a look at the crypto moves Trump has made.
The GENIUS Act (July 2025)
Also signed into law was the GENIUS Act, the first major piece of federal crypto legislation. It establishes a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins. For tax purposes, it changes nothing. Stablecoins are generally treated as property under current IRS guidance, meaning that swapping Bitcoin for a stablecoin is still a taxable event.
Understandably, hopes were dashed for meaningful tax relief. The GENIUS Act was framed as a landmark moment, the first major federal crypto law ever passed. That kind of coverage creates an expectation that something fundamental shifted. Add to that the fact that stablecoins are designed to feel like digital cash, not an investment, so swapping into one intuitively feels like parking money rather than triggering a taxable event.
- The GENIUS Act was headline news — "first major federal crypto law" led people to assume it changed the rules in investors' favour.
- Stablecoins are designed to feel like digital cash, so swapping Bitcoin for USDC feels like moving money, not realising a gain.
- No IRS guidance has been issued specifically for stablecoins — the silence gets misread as a green light.
The DeFi Broker Rule Repeal (April 2025)
One genuinely significant move for Trump's crypto taxes reform: Trump signed legislation in April 2025 repealing the IRS rule that would have required decentralized finance brokers to file Form 1099-DA. That repeal applies to decentralized exchanges and non-custodial wallets only. Centralized exchanges remain fully subject to reporting obligations. This is a win for DeFi infrastructure but it's not a free pass for DeFi investors. DeFi tax rules are complicated, and with Form 1099-DA in play, things are only going to heat up.
Eric Trump No Capital Gains Tax on Crypto?
In January 2025, Eric Trump floated a tax exemption for US-based cryptocurrency projects. The proposal aimed to encourage companies to stay onshore and strengthen the American blockchain sector. Prediction markets at the time put the odds of Trump enacting any crypto tax exemption before 2026 at under 10%.
A proposal from a Trump family member is not a bill. A bill is not a law. Until Congress passes something and a president signs it, your tax obligations have not changed. Bitcoin is still taxable. Ethereum is still taxable. Solana is still taxable.
The Real Risk of Acting on Trump Crypto Tax Headlines
Current IRS Crypto Tax Rules Still Apply in Full
Under current law, the following rates apply to crypto gains. Note that additional taxes including the Net Investment Income Tax (3.8%) may apply depending on your income level, and state taxes vary:
- Short-term capital gains (assets held under one year): taxed as ordinary income, up to 37%
- Long-term capital gains (assets held over one year): taxed at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on income
- Staking rewards and mining income: taxed as ordinary income at fair market value upon receipt
- DeFi liquidity pool income: taxable as received
- NFT disposals: taxable as property transactions
Every disposal of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, or any other digital asset is still a taxable event. The Trump administration has signalled it wants to reform crypto tax treatment. That reform may come. But until it is signed into law, the rules above are the ones you file under.
What Under-Reporting Actually Looks Like
I have seen what happens when investors make decisions based on rumour. They under-report. They defer filing. They assume an exemption applies that does not exist. Then the IRS sends a letter, or initiates a crypto audit. The cost of resolving that situation is almost always far greater than the cost of filing correctly in the first place.
Take someone like our client — let's call him Jordan — a software engineer in Austin who has been accumulating Bitcoin and Ethereum since 2019. When the 'no capital gains tax on crypto' headlines hit social media in early 2025, Jordan stopped tracking his disposals. He figured he would wait and see. By the time he came to us ahead of the 2025 filing deadline, he had 847 untracked transactions across three exchanges, two hardware wallets, and a handful of DeFi liquidity pools.
The exemption he was waiting for never came. The transactions still needed to be reported. And now, with Form 1099-DA data landing in both his inbox and the IRS's systems, the gap between what he reported and what the IRS had on file was a serious problem.
Jordan is not unusual. We see versions of this situation regularly. The common thread is always the same: a compelling headline, a decision to pause, and a tax problem that grew in the meantime.
What US Crypto Investors Should Do Right Now
Do not wait for a law that has not passed. Do not assume a Trump crypto headline means your obligations have changed. Here is what matters before the filing deadline:
- Gather your full transaction history across every exchange, wallet, and DeFi protocol.
- Reconcile your Form 1099-DA data against your actual transaction records (no, they will not always match.)
- Calculate accurate cost basis for every disposal, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins
- Report all staking rewards, DeFi income, and NFT transactions as ordinary income or capital gains as applicable
- Do not rely solely on crypto tax software if your portfolio is complex — software cannot reconstruct missing data
If your portfolio spans multiple chains, involves DeFi activity, or includes records from exchanges that no longer exist, that reconciliation is not something a generalist accountant or a tax software tool handles well. It requires forensic data work. That is what we do at CountDeFi. If you want clarity on where you actually stand before you file, get in touch.
