HM Revenue and Customs published its first dedicated statistics on cryptoasset capital gains on August 27, with the data showing 240 people declared more than £1 million each in crypto gains during the 2024 to 2025 tax year. That group reported a combined £717 million. The release is the first of its kind because HMRC added a specific cryptoasset section to the Self Assessment return only for that tax year, giving the agency its first clean data set from which to measure the segment independently.
Across the broader pool, 17,600 individuals reported capital gains from cryptoassets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. Total disposal proceeds reached £13.8 billion, with taxable gains of £1.38 billion and an average declared gain of £78,000 per person. Around 87% of those reporting gains were male and 13% female, according to HMRC's annual Capital Gains Tax statistics.
The figures arrived with a firm message. James Murray, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, said:
"Taxes are due on cryptoasset gains just like any other gains, and we want to make sure people making gains from crypto know about what taxes they owe. This important work is supporting the Government's efforts to close the tax gap, so that everyone pays their fair share towards our vital public services."
John-Paul Marks, HMRC's Permanent Secretary and Chief Executive, said:
"We want to make it as easy as possible for people to understand and meet their tax obligations when it comes to cryptoassets. As new international reporting rules come into force, it's more important than ever for people to check they are paying any tax owed."
What HMRC already collected before this data existed
The statistics are one part of a two-stage enforcement shift. HMRC had already been active before the dedicated Self Assessment box was introduced. The agency reportedly sent more than 81,000 letters to individuals it suspected of underpaying taxes on crypto activity, asking them to check their position and use the Crypto Disclosure Service on GOV.UK. HMRC said that compliance and education work generated an estimated £168 million in additional capital gains tax in 2024 to 2025 as a direct result of those efforts, separate from amounts declared through standard returns.
The second stage arrives through the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework. The OECD published the CARF model rules in October 2022 in response to the difficulty tax authorities faced in identifying crypto gains through conventional audit channels. The framework requires crypto asset service providers to collect customer identity information and report transaction data to the national tax authority in their jurisdiction. That authority then shares it with the tax agencies of every country where a customer holds tax residency. More than 50 jurisdictions had committed to CARF implementation by 2026, with first data exchanges set for 2027.
The UK began CARF implementation in January 2026. HMRC will receive the first provider-reported data in 2027. Service providers that fail to meet collection and reporting requirements face penalties of up to £300 per user.
How the EU and US run parallel reporting regimes
The EU's equivalent instrument is the eighth Directive on Administrative Cooperation, known as DAC8. The EU Council adopted it in October 2023 and required member states to transpose it into national law by the end of 2025, with reporting obligations for crypto asset service providers starting in 2026. DAC8 covers the same population as CARF but operates across EU member states under a single legal instrument rather than through bilateral exchange agreements between countries.
The United States moved earlier on broker reporting. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 expanded the definition of "broker" to include digital asset exchanges and custodians. The IRS delayed implementation multiple times before publishing final rules in 2024. The combined reach of CARF, DAC8, and US broker reporting means that a UK holder who uses a foreign platform will, in most cases, have their transaction data reported to HMRC from 2027 regardless of where the platform is based.
What counts as a taxable event and the deadlines now active
UK crypto holders face capital gains tax on activity that extends well beyond a straightforward sale. Swapping one token for a different one counts as a disposal. So does using crypto to pay for goods or services. Giving crypto away to anyone outside a spouse, civil partner, or charity also triggers a taxable event under HMRC's rules.
The October 2024 Autumn Budget raised CGT rates on crypto and other assets. Higher rate taxpayers now pay 24% on gains above the annual exempt amount. Basic rate taxpayers pay 18%, with total income in the tax year determining which rate applies. For gains realized before October 30, 2024, the previous rates of 10% and 20% applied. Anyone with gains spanning both sides of that date in the 2024 to 2025 tax year needs to account for each period separately. The annual exempt amount for 2024 to 2025 was £3,000, cut from £6,000 the prior year and £12,300 in 2022 to 2023.
Income from staking, mining, and lending sits outside the capital gains framework entirely. It falls under Income Tax and National Insurance, with no dedicated box in Self Assessment, so it continues to travel through existing income provisions. Anyone with crypto gains or income from the 2025 to 2026 tax year must file a Self Assessment return by January 31, 2027.
Who the 240 are and what the gender breakdown reflects
The 240 highest earners reported £717 million combined, just over half of the £1.38 billion total across all 17,600 individuals. The concentration at the top reflects how gains accumulated. Holders who bought Bitcoin or Ethereum during earlier price cycles and held through large moves often triggered single-year gains far above the average when they eventually sold. The £78,000 average pulls down because most individual gains in the dataset were modest.
The 87% male figure tracks with broader UK survey data. The FCA's 2023 consumer research on cryptoassets found that men were significantly more likely than women to hold crypto, with the gender gap widest among holders of larger amounts. The FCA found that while awareness of crypto was near-universal among UK adults, active ownership remained concentrated within a narrower demographic. The HMRC statistics appear to confirm that the same concentration present in ownership also shows up in who generates taxable gains substantial enough to reach a £1 million threshold.
Gunel Ismayilova
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