Form 1099 from Crypto Exchanges: What US Taxpayers Need to Know

A crypto exchange 1099 is a form that a payer or broker sends to you and the IRS to report certain transactions or payments.

If you used a US crypto exchange in 2025, the 1099 you are most likely to see in 2026 is Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions. You may also get a 1099-MISC for rewards, or a 1099-B if you traded futures.

TokenTax treats those as different buckets, then ties them back to 100+ exchanges and wallets so cost basis is not whatever one broker happened to know. The output is a Form 8949 you can file or send to TurboTax, H&R Block, or TaxAct.

The IRS uses a family of 1099 forms to match third-party reports to your taxpayer ID. These are fairly common in the business world. Banks use them for interest, brokers use them for stock sales, platforms use them for contractor pay. Crypto exchanges now use them for digital asset sales and some income.

That matching is the point, because the IRS already has a copy. If your return ignores a form, or treats gross proceeds as profit, the mismatch is easy to spot.

For US crypto users, a 1099 can help you see what a platform reported. It cannot replace transfers, fees, wallet-to-wallet moves, or DeFi the broker never saw. The IRS treats digital assets as property. You report the actual sale, swap, spend, or income, whether or not a form arrived. 

You do not fill out a 1099 as a trader. The exchange or other payer does. You use the copy they send you to file Form 1040, Form 8949, and Schedule D. If you paid contractors yourself, that is a different job. Starting with 2026 payments, the IRS raised the usual reporting floor for 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC payments from $600 to $2,000.

Form 1099-DA is the dedicated broker statement for digital asset sales and exchanges. Custodial brokers that take possession of customer assets, including centralized exchanges, certain hosted wallets, kiosks, and some payment processors, report on it for transactions on or after January 1, 2025.

The IRS phases the rules in. Gross proceeds come first, and basis comes later, but only for some lots. DeFi and other non-custodial brokers that never take possession are not in the current filing requirement. Some foreign brokers are also out. However, missing a form does not mean the sale was tax-free. The table below explains the new rules. 

What to expect from Form 1099-DA in 2026 for the 2025 tax year

The IRS told tax pros that most 2025 statements will not include basis. Brokers had to furnish the taxpayer copy by February 17, 2026. Some exchanges posted later. You still have to calculate basis from your own history before the 2025 return can be filed. 

Example: you bought 2 ETH in 2023 for $3,000, then sold them on a US exchange in September 2025 for $5,200. The 1099-DA may show $5,200 of proceeds and a blank basis box. File $5,200 as the gain, and you overpay. TokenTax attaches the original $3,000 buy, nets fees, and puts a $2,200 gain on Form 8949.

What to expect from Form 1099-DA in 2027 for the 2026 tax year

For sales on or after January 1, 2026, brokers must report basis on certain covered lots. The clean case is a coin you bought on that same custodial exchange on or after January 1, 2026, and left there until you sold it. Coins you bought earlier, or moved in from another wallet or venue, are the ones the exchange often cannot price.

Example: you bought SOL in a self-custody wallet through DeFi, transferred it onto an exchange, and sold it there in 2026. You may get a 1099-DA for the sale. The form can still miss the original basis. 

Notice 2026-20 lets you identify lots of broker-held coins on your own books through December 31, 2026, instead of getting the exchange UI to accept the instruction. That relief does not apply to self-custody. It also does not apply to the broker's 1099-DA. For 2026 sales, the date and basis on the form may not match the lots on your return. 

Yes. Your reporting duty does not depend on whether an exchange mailed a form.

The IRS says taxpayers must report digital asset transactions whether or not they received a statement. Selling for cash, swapping one coin for another, or spending crypto can be a taxable disposal. Staking, mining, pay, and many airdrops can be ordinary income when you can control the tokens. A $5 taxable event still goes on the return. TokenTax does not wait for a PDF or hard copy. Connect the wallets, and you still get an 8949 and an income report.

Answer the digital asset question on Form 1040 from what you actually did, not from the stack of PDFs in your inbox.

Most exchange users will care first about 1099-DA and 1099-MISC. Depending on the product, you may also see 1099-B, 1099-K, 1099-NEC, or 1099-INT. A consolidated 1099 can package more than one of these. Review each form on its own. They do not all land on the same schedule.

This table shows the 10 most common 1099s a US crypto user might encounter and what each usually means.

Thresholds are easy to mix up this year. Keep the tax year of the payment in view.

Each form reports a different kind of activity, and they do not all go on the same part of the return.

What Form 1099-DA reports for crypto

Form 1099-DA reports digital asset sales and exchanges effected by a covered broker. For 2025 activity, it is a statement of proceeds. It is not a finished gain-and-loss report. Box 1g (basis) is often blank. 

Acquisition date and short-term/long-term character are only as good as the broker's history. Use it to check the sales that the exchange saw. 

What Form 1099-MISC reports for crypto

Form 1099-MISC reports certain miscellaneous income, not capital gains. On crypto platforms, it usually means rewards, referrals, or similar payouts once you clear the reporting floor. Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Binance.US have all used a $600 rewards threshold for recent years.

A 1099-MISC is one income line. It is not a summary of your year. Sales still go on Form 8949 even if the same platform also sent a MISC.

What Form 1099-K reports for crypto

Form 1099-K reports gross payment-card and third-party network transactions. It is a receipts form. It is not your trading profit.

If you sold goods or services through a payment app and received a 1099-K, start with the gross amount, subtract what the rules allow, and report the taxable amount on the appropriate schedule. Do not drop the whole box onto Schedule D as if it were a crypto gain. 

What Form 1099-NEC and Form 1099-INT can mean for crypto users

Form 1099-NEC is for nonemployee compensation. You might see one if a platform or client paid you as a contractor, in dollars or in crypto. That is ordinary income, often self-employment income on Schedule C. It is not a capital gain.

Form 1099-INT is for interest. Some platforms still issue it for qualifying interest programs. Report it as interest. Do not fold it into Form 8949.

For 2025 payments, the usual NEC/MISC floor was $600. For payments after December 31, 2025, that floor is $2,000. A missing form below the floor does not make the pay tax-free. 

Form 1099-B is the older broker form for stocks, commodities, regulated futures, options, and similar products. Spot crypto sales now go on Form 1099-DA. You can still get a 1099-B from a crypto platform if you used a product that is not a spot digital asset sale.

• What Form 1099-B reports. Proceeds, dates, and often basis for covered securities or futures. Use it to help complete Form 8949 and Schedule D. Confirm every line against your own blotter.

• Which exchanges send it. It depends on the product, not the brand. Futures desks and brokerage-style accounts are the usual source. Spot books at Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, and Binance.US use 1099-DA.

• What to report if you get one. The listed sales, with proceeds, basis, and holding period you can support. If a line is wrong, ask the issuer for a correction and keep the ticket.

• Does Coinbase issue Form 1099-B? Yes, for some products. Coinbase says US customers may get a 1099-B if they sold equities, futures or perpetuals, or certain OTC options. Spot crypto sales and exchanges go on Form 1099-DA. Coinbase's IRS reporting can include 1099-DA, 1099-MISC, and 1099-B in the same year.

• Mandatory broker reporting. The new matching pressure for spot crypto is 1099-DA, not a new universal 1099-B. Expect the IRS to compare broker proceeds to your Form 8949. 

Work the form in this order. Do not upload a single PDF and click file. 

Step 1: Review what form you actually received

Read the title. A 1099-DA, 1099-MISC, 1099-B, and 1099-K do not belong on the same line of the return. If you got a consolidated packet, split it into the underlying forms. 

Step 2: Match it to your own records

Compare dates, assets, quantities, and proceeds to your exchange export and wallet history. Label transfers between accounts you control so a move is not a sale. Missing transfers are how basis disappears.

If you used more than one exchange or bridged through a hardware wallet, a single 1099-DA will not include the buy, which is normal. 

Step 3: Do not assume the exchange form is your final tax answer

Trust proceeds more than basis. A small proceeds gap can be timing or fees. A blank or "unknown" basis box is not an error you wait on. 

DeFi, NFTs, and foreign venues often never appear on a US 1099-DA, but they still count. 

Step 4: Report the activity in the correct tax category

Sales, swaps, and spends are reported for capital gains. Rewards and contractor pay are treated as ordinary income. Interest stays interest. 

If the form does not match your records, contact the issuer listed in the filer box and request a correction. Keep the ticket and every email. The IRS cannot fix your 1099-DA for you.

Ask for a corrected form when proceeds are materially wrong, a purchase is listed as a sale, a trade you never made appears, or a sale is duplicated. You usually do not need a new form for missing basis or a blank box 1g. 

If no 1099 arrives, report the year from your exports anyway. A late or missing form does not pause the filing deadline. If April is close, file an extension rather than guess.

For most individual US taxpayers, crypto disposals are reported on Form 8949 and totaled on Schedule D. Ordinary crypto income usually appears on Form 1040 through Schedule 1 or Schedule C. That is why one 1099 rarely finishes the job.

TokenTax is how that table becomes a filing packet: Form 8949 for disposals, an income report for rewards, and an audit trail of every lot. For the filing sequence, use how to report crypto on your taxes. Be sure to use the free crypto tax calculator, but remember it works for one sale at a time.

• Treating every 1099 as a capital gains form. 1099-MISC, 1099-K, and 1099-NEC are income or receipts forms. 

• Assuming no 1099 means no tax. DeFi, foreign venues, and small rewards can skip a form. 

• Reporting gross amounts as profit. A 1099-K is receipts. A 1099-DA with no basis is proceeds. 

• Ignoring basis and transfer records during the 1099-DA rollout. 2025 forms often omit basis. 2026 forms will still miss transferred-in and pre-2026 lots.