Form 1099-DA Explained: What Your Crypto Exchange Tells the IRS (2026)
Last updated: November 3, 2026. Covers Forms 1099-DA for 2026 sales (sent in early 2027), with notes for 2025 forms.
Not tax advice: This article is general education based on IRS forms, instructions and notices as of the date above. It is not tax, legal or financial advice and can’t account for your situation. For decisions that matter, talk to a CPA, enrolled agent or tax attorney.
The author is not a CPA or tax professional. Mbatia Muitungu has invested in crypto since 2018 and writes about it in plain English. Every rule below links to an official source, listed under Sources at the end.
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Form 1099-DA is the tax form US crypto exchanges and other custodial platforms send to you and to the IRS when you sell, trade or spend digital assets through them. Brokers started filing it for 2025 sales. For 2026 sales, the form you get in early 2027 will also show your cost basis, but only for coins you bought on that platform in 2026 or later. Everything else still depends on your own records.
Here is what each part of the form means, what it leaves out, and how to use it when you fill in Form 8949.
Key takeaways
- Form 1099-DA reports sales and other disposals of crypto made through a US broker. Simply buying and holding does not produce one.
- For 2025 sales, brokers had to report gross proceeds. For 2026 sales, they must also report basis for “covered” assets: bought on or after January 1, 2026, in that same account, and held there until sold.
- Coins bought before 2026 or transferred in from another wallet are “noncovered.” The form may show no basis for them, so you must supply it yourself.
- Staking rewards are not reported on Form 1099-DA, and several transaction types are temporarily excluded. They can still be taxable.
- The form includes a one-letter code (G, H, J, K or Y) that tells you which Form 8949 box to use.
- If the form is wrong, ask the broker for a corrected one. The IRS says it can’t correct it for you, and you shouldn’t wait to file.
What is Form 1099-DA?
Its full name is Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions. It exists because the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act expanded broker reporting under Internal Revenue Code section 6045 to cover digital assets. Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations (Treasury Decision 10000) on July 9, 2024.
Think of it as the crypto version of the Form 1099-B your stock brokerage sends. The IRS gets a copy, and its systems can compare what brokers report against what you put on your return.
Who sends a 1099-DA, and who doesn’t
According to the IRS, the rules apply to brokers that take possession of the digital assets their customers sell. That includes:
- Custodial trading platforms (most centralized exchanges and apps where the company holds your coins).
- Certain hosted wallet providers.
- Digital asset kiosks (crypto ATMs).
- Certain processors of digital asset payments.
Generally, only a US digital asset broker has to file. If you trade on an exchange based outside the United States, you may not get a 1099-DA from it, but the IRS says those transactions still go on your return.
Non-custodial (DeFi) platforms don’t send the form. The final regulations left them out, and in April 2025 Congress used the Congressional Review Act to cancel a separate IRS rule that would have covered some DeFi front ends (H.J.Res. 25, Public Law 119-5). No form does not mean no tax. Swaps you make from your own wallet still have to be reported by you.
2025 vs 2026: the change that matters
| Sale year | Form arrives | What the broker reports |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Early 2026 (due Feb. 17, 2026) | Gross proceeds. Basis generally not required. |
| 2026 | Early 2027 | Gross proceeds for everything, plus basis for covered assets. Basis for noncovered assets is optional. |
Covered vs noncovered, in plain English
Under the 2026 instructions, a digital asset is covered only if it was acquired after 2025 in a custodial account at that broker and stayed in that account until the broker sold it. Anything else is noncovered, including:
- Coins you bought before January 1, 2026, even on the same exchange.
- Coins you transferred in from another exchange or from your own wallet, such as a hardware wallet.
- Coins acquired somewhere the broker wasn’t providing custody.
The IRS instructions give an example: a customer buys the same coin in April 2022, April 2026 and August 2026, then sells all of it in one trade in June 2027. The broker may have to split that one sale across separate forms: short-term covered units, long-term covered units, and the noncovered 2022 units. So one trade can show up on more than one Form 1099-DA.
When to expect it
Brokers must furnish your copy by February 15 of the year after the sale. If that date falls on a weekend or legal holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day (IRS Publication 1099). That is why 2025 forms were due February 17, 2026. Brokers can furnish the form electronically if you have consented to electronic delivery, so check the tax documents section of your account as well as your mail.
Form 1099-DA box by box
These are the boxes most individual filers will care about. Descriptions follow the IRS 2026 instructions for brokers.
| Box | What it shows | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Form 8949 checkbox code | A letter: G, H, J, K or Y | Tells you which Form 8949 box to use (see the table below). Y means the broker couldn’t tell if your holding period was short- or long-term. |
| 1a / 1b | Digital token identifier and asset name | Which coin was sold. If the coin has no registered identifier, 1a shows 999999999. |
| 1c | Number of units | How much you sold, up to 18 decimal places. |
| 1d | Date acquired | Filled in for covered assets. Often blank for noncovered assets or lots bought on various dates. |
| 1e | Date sold or disposed | The sale date. |
| 1f | Proceeds | What you received, already reduced by transaction costs such as fees and commissions. |
| 1g | Cost or other basis | Your basis, required for covered assets. Blank is not the same as zero; the instructions say -0- appears only if basis really was zero. |
| 2 | Basis reported to IRS | Checked when the broker sent basis to the IRS. |
| 4 | Federal income tax withheld | Backup withholding, if any (see below). |
| 6 | Gain or loss type | Short-term or long-term, and whether any part may be ordinary. |
| 8 | Broker relied on customer-provided acquisition info | Checked if you gave the broker purchase information it used to pick which units were sold. |
| 9 | Noncovered security | If checked, the broker isn’t vouching for basis or acquisition date. You need your own records. |
| 11a to 11c | Optional reporting method | Used for aggregated stablecoin or NFT sales. |
| 12a / 12b | Units transferred in and transfer-in date | Flags coins you moved into the account. Their basis comes from your records of the original purchase. |
What the form leaves out
Several things you may owe tax on won’t appear on a 1099-DA:
- Staking rewards and other rewards. The broker instructions say plainly: do not report rewards and staking payments on Form 1099-DA. They are still income when you receive them.
- Temporarily excluded transactions. Until further guidance, IRS Notice 2024-57 lets brokers skip reporting for wrapping and unwrapping, liquidity-provider transactions, staking transactions, crypto lending, short sales and notional principal contracts.
- Small stablecoin sales. Brokers using the optional method don’t have to report a customer’s designated stablecoin sales if total gross proceeds for the year are $10,000 or less.
- Small NFT and payment-processor sales. Similar de minimis rules apply: $600 for specified NFTs under the optional method, and $600 a year for sales through a payment processor.
If you did any of this, you still report it. Answer the digital asset question on Form 1040 honestly and include the transactions on the right forms. Our US crypto tax guide covers where each type of income goes.
Backup withholding: why your exchange wants your SSN
Brokers generally have to withhold 24% of proceeds (backup withholding) when a customer hasn’t given a correct, certified taxpayer identification number. For digital assets, the IRS has delayed this:
- 2025 and 2026 sales: no backup withholding required (Notice 2024-56, extended by Notice 2025-33).
- 2027 sales: relief narrows. A broker can still skip withholding for a preexisting customer if it submits the customer’s name and TIN to the IRS TIN-matching program and gets a match.
The practical step: if your exchange asks you to confirm your Social Security number or complete a Form W-9, do it through the app or website itself, not through a link in an email or text. Scammers copy these requests.
How to use Form 1099-DA on Form 8949
Starting with 2025 returns, Form 8949 has separate boxes just for digital assets. Match the code on your 1099-DA to the box:
| Code on 1099-DA | Meaning | Form 8949 box |
|---|---|---|
| G | Short-term, basis reported to IRS | Part I, box G |
| H | Short-term, basis not reported to IRS | Part I, box H |
| J | Long-term, basis reported to IRS | Part II, box J |
| K | Long-term, basis not reported to IRS | Part II, box K |
| Y | Holding period unknown to the broker | Use your records to decide between H and K |
| (no 1099-DA) | DeFi, self-custody, foreign exchange | Box I (short-term) or L (long-term) |
Three rules from the Form 8949 instructions are worth knowing:
- No adjustments needed? If basis was reported to the IRS (box G or J) and it’s correct, you can report the totals directly on Schedule D instead of listing each sale.
- Basis missing (box H or K)? Enter the correct basis from your own records in column (e).
- Basis reported but wrong (box G or J)? Enter the basis shown on the form in column (e), enter code B in column (f), and put the correction in column (g).
Worked example: one sale, two forms
These numbers are made up to show the mechanics. They are not market prices.
- In March 2026 you buy 0.10 BTC on Exchange A for $8,000, including fees. This lot is covered.
- You also own 0.05 BTC that you bought in 2023 on a different app for $1,500. In January 2026 you move it to Exchange A. This lot is noncovered because it was transferred in.
- In November 2026 you sell all 0.15 BTC on Exchange A and receive $13,500 after fees: $9,000 for the 0.10 BTC lot and $4,500 for the 0.05 BTC lot.
Under the IRS instructions, Exchange A would report this on separate forms:
| Form | Proceeds (1f) | Basis (1g) | Code | Your gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Covered lot (0.10 BTC) | $9,000 | $8,000 | G (short-term) | $1,000 short-term |
| Noncovered lot (0.05 BTC) | $4,500 | Blank, box 9 checked | K or Y | $3,000 long-term, using your $1,500 basis |
If you left the noncovered row’s basis blank on Form 8949, your return would show a $4,500 gain on that lot instead of $3,000. That $1,500 difference is your money, and the only thing that protects it is your purchase record from 2023.
What to do if your 1099-DA is wrong
The IRS page “Understanding your Form 1099-DA” gives these steps:
- Contact the issuer listed in the “Filer” section at the top left of the form and request a corrected form.
- Keep the original form, the corrected one and all correspondence with the broker.
- Don’t contact the IRS to fix it. The IRS says it can’t correct a broker’s form.
- Don’t wait to file. Report using the corrected form, or the correct figures from your records with the adjustment codes described above.
If you get a 1099-DA for an account that isn’t yours, treat it as a possible identity theft issue and contact the broker right away.
Before December 31, 2026: a short checklist
- Download your full transaction history (CSV) from every exchange and wallet app you used, including ones you no longer use.
- Write down the original cost of any coins you transferred into an exchange. These are the lots most likely to show no basis.
- Decide how you identify lots. IRS Notice 2026-20 extends, through December 31, 2026, the relief that lets you identify which units you sold at a broker using your own records or a standing order. Check with a tax professional if lot choice changes your bill.
- Confirm your taxpayer details inside each exchange account so the 2027 TIN-matching rules don’t catch you out.
- Consider crypto tax software if you used more than one platform. Tools such as CoinLedger and Koinly import exchange files and match transfers between your own accounts. Check their output against your own records.
Frequently asked questions
Will I get a Form 1099-DA if I only bought crypto and held it?
Buying with dollars is not a sale, so it isn’t reported on Form 1099-DA. You get one when a US broker effects a sale or other disposal for you. Our guide to buying bitcoin safely in the US lists the purchase records worth keeping from day one.
I didn’t get a 1099-DA. Do I still have to report?
Yes. The IRS says you must report all income, gains and losses from digital assets whether or not you receive the form. Use Form 8949 box I or L for sales with no 1099-DA or 1099-B.
Does the IRS get the same information I do?
Yes. Brokers file Form 1099-DA with the IRS and send you a copy of the same information.
My 1099-DA shows no cost basis. Is it wrong?
Not necessarily. For 2025 sales, basis generally wasn’t required. For 2026 sales, it’s only required for covered assets. A blank basis means you need to enter the correct figure from your records, not zero.
Are staking rewards on Form 1099-DA?
No. The broker instructions say not to report rewards and staking payments on this form. You still report staking rewards as income when you receive them.
Will a sale of stablecoins show up?
It depends. Brokers using the optional method don’t report designated stablecoin sales if your yearly total is $10,000 or less. Above that, they report the totals for each stablecoin on a separate form.
Sources
Primary sources used for this article (links checked November 3, 2026):
- IRS form instructions: Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026)
- IRS guidance: IRS: Understanding your Form 1099-DA
- IRS guidance: IRS: Digital assets (broker compliance and relief notices)
- IRS guidance: IRS: Frequently asked questions about broker reporting
- IRS tax tip: IRS Tax Tip 2026-07: Reminders for taxpayers about digital assets
- IRS publication: Publication 1099 (2026): due dates for recipient statements
- IRS form instructions: Instructions for Form 8949 (digital asset boxes G to L, code B)
- IRS notice: Notice 2024-56 (transitional relief for brokers)
- IRS notice: Notice 2025-33 (backup withholding relief extended)
- IRS notice: Notice 2024-57 (transactions temporarily excluded from reporting)
- IRS notice: Notice 2026-20 (lot identification relief through Dec. 31, 2026)
- Public law: Public Law 119-5 (H.J.Res. 25, DeFi broker rule disapproval)
This article is for general information only and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Digital Currency Pulse is not a tax preparer. Rules and forms can change; check current IRS guidance or a qualified tax professional before acting.
