Key facts
- Global taxable on-chain crypto activity is estimated to be at least $457 billion for 2025.
- The US contributed an estimated $112.6 billion to this total.
- North America and the EU represent the largest regional contributions to taxable crypto activity.
- Chainalysis reports that only 14% of identified taxable on-chain crypto activity is covered by the OECD's CARF.
- The CARF framework focuses on crypto intermediaries, leaving decentralized finance largely outside its reporting scope.
Potentially taxable onchain cryptocurrency activity globally reached at least $457 billion in 2025, with a significant portion likely to remain outside the scope of international reporting rules, according to a Chainalysis report. The United States accounted for an estimated $112.6 billion of this total, while North America led all regions with $134.6 billion, followed by the European Union at $125.1 billion.
These estimates encompass realized gains, income from activities such as mining, staking, and lending, and crypto-denominated payments across six major blockchains, excluding activity within centralized exchanges. Chainalysis found that transactions covered by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) represent only 14% of the onchain taxable activity identified. The remaining 86% includes activity on decentralized exchanges, peer-to-peer transfers, and onchain income streams and payments.
CARF, developed by the OECD in 2022, mandates that covered crypto service providers report customer transaction data to tax authorities. Data collection under CARF commenced on January 1, 2026, in 48 jurisdictions, including the UK and EU. The framework requires in-scope crypto providers to gather customer and tax residency information and report transaction data to domestic tax authorities, which then facilitate cross-border information sharing.
Colby Mangels, a former OECD adviser involved in CARF's development, explained that the framework was designed with a focus on intermediaries that facilitate crypto transactions as a business. Consequently, much of decentralized finance (DeFi) remains outside the reporting perimeter due to the absence of a centralized operator or custodial relationship. Regulators are reportedly monitoring developments in anti-money laundering regulations to determine when DeFi platforms or their operators might be subject to reporting requirements.