TL;DR: Yes. Crypto.com operates in the UK through FCA-registered entities and participates in UK regulatory requirements, which is one of the stronger signs that UK customer activity will fall within the new automatic-reporting arrangements that start on 1 January 2026 under CARF. The thing that actually trips people up is structural: your Crypto.com history usually lives in more than one place, the consumer App, the professional Exchange, and the Visa card, and your UK tax sits across all three. If you have gains or income from any of them that you have not declared, now is the time to put it right.
This guide covers what Crypto.com will report, where it stands with regulators, why the App, Exchange and card make a tidy tax position harder than it looks, and the steps to take if you owe tax. It reflects HMRC, FCA and OECD positions as of June 2026.
Disclaimer
This guide is intended as a generic informative piece. This is not accounting or tax advice that can be relied upon for any UK individual's specific circumstances. Please speak to a qualified tax advisor about your specific circumstances before acting upon any of the information in this article.
The three parts of Crypto.com, and why it matters for tax
Before anything else, it helps to be clear that "Crypto.com" is not one product. Most UK users touch some combination of three:
- The Crypto.com App. The consumer mobile app for buying, selling, swapping and staking, used by most retail customers.
- The Crypto.com Exchange. A separate, professional trading venue with spot, margin and derivatives, aimed at active traders.
- The Crypto.com Visa card. A prepaid card you top up with crypto and spend, historically with cashback paid in Crypto.com's CRO token.
They are run by different parts of the business and export their data separately, which is the single biggest reason a Crypto.com tax position is easy to get wrong. Miss one of the three and your numbers will not add up. The rest of this guide uses "Crypto.com" to mean all of them.
Does Crypto.com share data with HMRC?
Crypto.com is not an offshore venue keeping its distance from tax authorities. It is a registered UK operator that has chosen to work inside the rules, and that points firmly towards reporting.
A strong signal is its FCA registration, covered in the next section. Registration does not by itself create a reporting obligation, that comes from CARF, but a registered, UK-facing operator is exactly the kind of business expected to fall within the new reporting regime. On top of that, HMRC has always been able to request data from exchanges under Schedule 23 of the Finance Act 2011 and Schedule 36 of the Finance Act 2008. The more important development is that automatic annual reporting is arriving, and a compliant operator is built to comply with it rather than resist it.
What changes from 1 January 2026: the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework
CARF is the OECD's reporting standard, designed so crypto activity is shared between tax authorities automatically each year, just as bank-account data already is. The UK brought it in via The Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2025, which begin on 1 January 2026; the mechanics are in our explainer on the OECD's CARF release.
For a registered operator like Crypto.com, this is the headline change. From 2026, in-scope providers gather a defined set of customer data and report it to the tax authorities each year, who then exchange it with one another. A UK-facing, FCA-registered business sits right in the middle of that.
What information is reported under CARF?
CARF fixes exactly what an in-scope exchange must hand over for each UK-resident customer.
| Identity data | Transaction data |
|---|---|
| Full name | Transaction types (exchanges, transfers, spending) |
| Date of birth | Annual aggregate value |
| Home address | Units and asset type |
| Country of tax residence | - |
| National Insurance / UTR | - |
The reports go to the relevant tax authority and are exchanged between CARF countries, so activity does not fall out of view by crossing a border. Under HMRC's CARF guidance, the rules carry penalties for users and providers alike: a user who deliberately or carelessly fails to provide a valid self-certification can face a penalty of up to £300, while reporting providers face separate penalties for due-diligence, reporting, notification, registration and record-keeping failures.
When does reporting take effect?
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 January 2026 | Data collection begins for in-scope exchanges with UK customers. |
| 31 May 2027 | First reports due to HMRC, covering 2026. |
| From 2027 onwards | International CARF data exchange between countries begins. |
In practice that means HMRC, from the 2026/27 tax year, receiving a yearly summary of reportable cryptoasset transactions to weigh against your Self Assessment return.
Is Crypto.com regulated in the UK?
Yes, within the bounds that apply to every crypto firm here. Crypto.com's UK cryptoasset business, Foris DAX UK Limited, is registered with the FCA for cryptoasset activities under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (firm reference number 941745). The Crypto.com Visa card is handled by a separate group entity, ForisGFS UK Limited, which the FCA authorised as an electronic money institution under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (firm reference number 988571) in December 2023.
The usual caveat applies. Being on the FCA's cryptoasset register shows Crypto.com has met the FCA's anti-money-laundering standards. It does not make crypto a regulated investment, it does not bring your holdings under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, and it does not change your tax obligations. One thing to note for the Exchange specifically: crypto derivatives cannot be sold to UK retail consumers under the FCA ban in force since January 2021, so the Exchange's futures products are off-limits to retail traders here.
Why a Crypto.com tax position is easy to get wrong
The challenge with Crypto.com is rarely a single hard transaction. It is that taxable events are scattered across the three parts of the platform, and several of them do not feel like trades.
- App buys, sells and swaps. Selling crypto or swapping one coin for another in the App is a disposal for capital gains tax. Simply buying with fiat is not, but it sets the cost for later.
- Visa card spending. Paying with the Crypto.com card spends crypto, and each spend is a disposal, not just a purchase. A daily coffee habit can mean dozens of small disposals.
- CRO cashback and Crypto Earn. Card cashback paid in CRO, and rewards from Crypto Earn or staking, are generally treated as taxable income, valued when you receive them. These are the items people most often forget.
- Exchange trading. Spot trades on the Exchange are disposals, while margin and derivatives can require separate tax treatment depending on the activity. Any rewards or interest there are income, all separate from your App activity.
Because the App and the Exchange export their data separately, and the card sits alongside both, a complete picture means bringing several sources together. Most calculation errors happen because people import the App but forget the Exchange, or the other way round. That is exactly the kind of gap that leaves a return out of step with what HMRC receives.
Why has HMRC been sending nudge letters about crypto?
When HMRC's data does not match a person's return, its first step is usually a nudge letter: not an investigation, just a prompt to check your tax affairs and correct anything missing, normally noting that HMRC holds information suggesting undeclared crypto.
The numbers have risen sharply:
| Tax year | Crypto nudge letters |
|---|---|
| 2024/25 | 64,982 |
| 2023/24 | 27,713 |
Those figures come from a UHY Hacker Young Freedom of Information request reported by the Financial Times in October 2025. Each letter is generated by matching data, and a registered exchange that reports, like Crypto.com, is exactly the kind of source behind it. The letter is not an accusation, but it pays to act: a voluntary correction almost always beats waiting for an enquiry. Our guide on what to do if you receive an HMRC nudge letter about your crypto takes you through it.
Can HMRC see my Crypto.com transactions?
Increasingly, yes, and more directly than for most exchanges. Crypto.com is registered in the UK and set up to report under CARF, so rather than HMRC having to piece your activity together, a registered operator is geared to hand the data over. Add HMRC's existing powers and the trail your money leaves through UK banks, and the realistic position is that your Crypto.com activity is visible to HMRC, or shortly will be.
What should I do if I have undeclared Crypto.com gains?
If you have gains or income from Crypto.com you have not declared, the sensible move is to act before HMRC contacts you, particularly given Crypto.com is set to report. A voluntary disclosure is treated far more leniently than something HMRC finds itself.
Three steps.
1. Work out what you owe. This is where the three-part split bites: you need App buys, sells, swaps and card spends, your Exchange trades, and every income item such as CRO cashback, Crypto Earn and staking rewards. Put the disposals through HMRC's share-pooling rules, which our comprehensive UK crypto tax guide explains, and treat the cashback and rewards as crypto income. Our free crypto tax calculator is there for a fast estimate on a single disposal.
2. Tell HMRC. For a year that is still in date, amend your Self Assessment return online; the window runs 12 months past the filing deadline, so a 2024/25 return filed by 31 January 2026 stays open until 31 January 2027. Once a year closes, use the Cryptoasset Disclosure Facility, HMRC's route since November 2023 for unpaid Income Tax or Capital Gains Tax on crypto.
3. Pay what is due. Unpaid tax runs up interest, and HMRC can add a penalty as well. Because that penalty is smaller when you disclose before HMRC gets in touch, there is a clear advantage to moving quickly.
If your activity spans the App, the Exchange and the card, an accountant can save real time. You can find a Recap-verified UK crypto tax specialist on our directory.
How Recap helps with Crypto.com tax
Recap pulls your Crypto.com activity into one place across all three parts of the platform. You can connect the Crypto.com Exchange via API and upload your Crypto.com App CSV, so the professional and consumer sides come together rather than being taxed in isolation, with card spends and CRO cashback included. Recap classifies and values everything and works out your gains and income under HMRC's rules. You can see the setup on our Crypto.com App and Crypto.com Exchange integration pages.
Connect your Crypto.com accounts to Recap and bring the App, Exchange and card into a single UK tax report, ready to file or hand to your accountant.
References
- HMRC and OECD: Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, domestic reporting of UK-resident cryptoasset users
- HMRC: Implementation of the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (penalties for users and reporting providers)
- The Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers (Due Diligence and Reporting Requirements) Regulations 2025
- Schedule 23, Finance Act 2011
- Schedule 36, Finance Act 2008
- HMRC Cryptoasset Disclosure Facility
- Nudge-letter statistics: UHY Hacker Young FOI, reported by the Financial Times, October 2025
- Crypto.com UK FCA status: Foris DAX UK Limited, cryptoasset registration FRN 941745; ForisGFS UK Limited, EMI authorisation FRN 988571 (authorised December 2023), the entity behind the Crypto.com Visa card; Foris DAX MT Limited (Malta, cryptoasset registration 2022, EMI licence 2023)
- FCA ban on the sale of crypto derivatives to UK retail consumers (PS20/10), in force from 6 January 2021
