UK crypto gains hit £1.38B as 240 investors report over £1M each

HM Revenue and Customs has recorded 240 UK taxpayers with more than £1 million ($1.36 million) each in crypto capital gains during the 2024-25 tax year, as the agency prepares to receive more investor data from exchanges under international reporting rules.

Summary

• HMRC recorded 17,600 taxpayers with taxable crypto gains in 2024-25, with total reported gains reaching £1.38 billion.
• A group of 240 investors reported more than £1 million in crypto gains each and accounted for £717 million of the total.
• HMRC sent about 81,000 warning letters to crypto investors suspected of underpaying taxes over the past year, according to UHY Hacker Young.
• HMRC is expected to begin receiving crypto customer data under international reporting rules in 2027, giving the agency more information to identify undeclared gains.

According to HMRC statistics published on Aug. 27, 17,600 individuals reported crypto disposals subject to Capital Gains Tax during the period, generating £13.8 billion ($18.76 billion) in disposal proceeds and £1.38 billion ($1.87 billion) in gains.

The 240 taxpayers at the top of the group accounted for £717 million ($974 million) of the gains reported to the agency. Across all individuals who declared taxable crypto disposals, the average gain stood at £78,000 ($106,000).

HMRC published the figures as part of its annual Capital Gains Tax statistics, providing its first dedicated dataset for cryptoasset gains after changing how taxpayers report such transactions.

The 2024-25 tax year was the first in which Self Assessment returns contained a separate section for reporting crypto capital gains. In earlier years, taxpayers declared crypto disposals within the general capital gains section, leaving HMRC without the same dedicated breakdown.

Crypto disposals covered by Capital Gains Tax can include selling an asset, exchanging one cryptocurrency for another, using crypto to pay for goods or services, or giving assets to another person outside certain exempt transfers, HMRC said.

The agency's statistics showed a heavily male group among those declaring taxable crypto gains. Around 87% of individuals reporting cryptoasset gains were men, while women accounted for about 13%.

HMRC has been working on crypto-specific compliance measures alongside changes to reporting requirements. The agency said its compliance and education activity related to cryptoassets generated an estimated additional £168 million in Capital Gains Tax during 2024-25.

UK taxpayers with crypto gains above the applicable tax-free allowance for the 2025-26 tax year must report them through Self Assessment and pay tax owed by Jan. 31, 2027, according to HMRC.

Crypto assets have long been treated within the UK's tax system even as the country's rules governing crypto businesses continue to develop. The country's treatment of crypto investments has continued to change in the years since. In April 2026, HMRC's removal of crypto exchange-traded notes from standard Individual Savings Accounts led UK fintech Stratiphy to offer crypto ETNs through Innovative Finance ISAs as an alternative tax-advantaged structure.

The first dedicated figures arrive while HMRC is contacting a rising number of crypto investors over possible unpaid taxes.

Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young said on Aug. 20 that the agency had sent about 81,000 warning letters to crypto investors it suspected may have underpaid taxes during the previous 12 months. The total was 25% higher than the roughly 65,000 letters sent a year earlier and nearly three times the 27,714 recorded in 2023-24.

Known as nudge letters, the notices allow recipients to approach HMRC and disclose unpaid tax before the agency begins an investigation, according to the firm.

UHY Hacker Young said HMRC suspects unpaid Capital Gains Tax remains from crypto trading during the market rally between December 2022 and October 2025.

The firm expects enforcement activity to increase once HMRC gains access to information collected from crypto businesses in other countries.

HMRC's access to investor information is set to expand through the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, or CARF.

The UK began implementing the framework in January 2026, with HMRC expected to start receiving customer information collected by cryptoasset service providers in 2027.

The framework is designed to enable participating jurisdictions to exchange information about crypto users and their transactions. The data can give tax authorities another source for comparing investors' activity with the income and gains declared on their tax returns.

The UK had been preparing for the framework for several years. In March 2024, the government opened a consultation on incorporating the OECD reporting standards into its tax system, with implementation scheduled for 2026.

At the time, the Treasury projected that adopting the reporting framework could generate £35 million ($45 million) during the 2026-27 fiscal period, rising to £95 million ($122 million) in 2027-28.

Similar reporting requirements have been introduced elsewhere. European Union crypto platforms began collecting customer identities, tax identification numbers and transaction records under DAC8 reporting rules on Jan. 1, 2026, with the first full-year reports due in 2027.

For UK residents, UHY Hacker Young expects HMRC to automatically receive information from crypto exchanges in 52 jurisdictions from May 31, 2027. Another 15 jurisdictions are expected to begin providing information in 2028.

CARF reporting is set to cover customer information that can be used to identify crypto transactions and compare them with tax filings. HMRC said the additional data will help it identify undeclared crypto gains once information starts arriving from participating service providers in 2027.