Which Taxes Apply?

Cryptocurrency is an example of “convertible virtual currency” as it can be digitally traded between users and purchased or exchanged into US Dollars and other real/virtual currencies. The sale, exchange, or use of any convertible virtual currency to pay for goods or services in a real-world transaction has tax consequences.

In the US, most cryptocurrency taxes fall into two categories: capital gains and ordinary income.

Disposal/Activity Type	Capital Gains Tax	Ordinary Income Tax
​💷 Selling Crypto for Fiat​​	✅​​	❌
🔄 Exchanging one Crypto for a different Crypto	✅​​	❌
🛍️ Purchases using Crypto	✅​​	❌
🎗️ Donations to Qualified Charities	❌ (If conditions met)	❌
​🎈 Airdrops​​	❌	✅
🤝 Staking​​​	❌	✅
💸 Transfers​​	❌​​	❌
🍴 Forks​​​	❌	✅
⛏️ Mining​​​	❌	✅
👛​​​​​​ Employment income	​​❌	✅
🚨 Lost & Stolen Crypto​	❌ (Potential to claim capital losses)	❌
💧 ​​​​​​​​Liquidity Pool Rewards​​	​❌	✅
💦 Liquidity Pool Movements​​	✅​​	❌
🔮 Cryptoasset derivatives (CFDs, Futures and Margin Trading)​​​	✅​​​​​​	✅
💼 Crypto Loans​​	❌	​​❌
💎​​ Lending Rewards​​​	❌	✅
🪞 Reflections Rewards​​	❌	✅
👥 Referral Income​​​	❌	✅
💳 Cashback	❌	❌
​​​​​​🎨 NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens)	✅	✅ (for creators)
🎮 NFTs earned playing games​​	❌​​	✅
💍 Spouse Transfers	❌ (if conditions met)	❌
🎁 Gifts​​	❌ (if conditions met)	❌