Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
In this post
- 1. The wash-sale rule today: why it doesn’t currently apply to crypto
- 2. What changes in 2026 and what triggers the rule under the new provisions
- 3. Which tax-loss harvesting strategies are blocked and which remain available
- 4. DeFi and staking complications: how the rule applies to non-fungible positions
- 5. Pre-2026 planning: positions worth establishing before the effective date
1. The wash-sale rule today: why it doesn’t currently apply to crypto
Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
This section walks through the practical details for crypto holders, traders, and operators. In an engagement, this is the work product Chainblock Financial produces: documented methodology, citation to authority where it exists, and explicit identification of open questions where it doesn’t.
Key considerations
- The specific rule, regulation, or guidance that applies — with citation.
- Where the guidance is silent and a defensible position has to be taken.
- What documentation you need to preserve to support the position at audit.
- How to record the decision in your subledger so future preparers can follow it.
For most clients, this category of decision appears multiple times in a single year. Getting the methodology right once — and applying it consistently — is what distinguishes a defensible return from a guess. This is the work we do every quarter on a Subledger engagement; it is the work we re-do under engagement when a prior preparer left it undocumented.
2. What changes in 2026 and what triggers the rule under the new provisions
Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
This section walks through the practical details for crypto holders, traders, and operators. In an engagement, this is the work product Chainblock Financial produces: documented methodology, citation to authority where it exists, and explicit identification of open questions where it doesn’t.
Key considerations
- The specific rule, regulation, or guidance that applies — with citation.
- Where the guidance is silent and a defensible position has to be taken.
- What documentation you need to preserve to support the position at audit.
- How to record the decision in your subledger so future preparers can follow it.
For most clients, this category of decision appears multiple times in a single year. Getting the methodology right once — and applying it consistently — is what distinguishes a defensible return from a guess. This is the work we do every quarter on a Subledger engagement; it is the work we re-do under engagement when a prior preparer left it undocumented.
3. Which tax-loss harvesting strategies are blocked and which remain available
Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
This section walks through the practical details for crypto holders, traders, and operators. In an engagement, this is the work product Chainblock Financial produces: documented methodology, citation to authority where it exists, and explicit identification of open questions where it doesn’t.
Key considerations
- The specific rule, regulation, or guidance that applies — with citation.
- Where the guidance is silent and a defensible position has to be taken.
- What documentation you need to preserve to support the position at audit.
- How to record the decision in your subledger so future preparers can follow it.
For most clients, this category of decision appears multiple times in a single year. Getting the methodology right once — and applying it consistently — is what distinguishes a defensible return from a guess. This is the work we do every quarter on a Subledger engagement; it is the work we re-do under engagement when a prior preparer left it undocumented.
4. DeFi and staking complications: how the rule applies to non-fungible positions
Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
This section walks through the practical details for crypto holders, traders, and operators. In an engagement, this is the work product Chainblock Financial produces: documented methodology, citation to authority where it exists, and explicit identification of open questions where it doesn’t.
Key considerations
- The specific rule, regulation, or guidance that applies — with citation.
- Where the guidance is silent and a defensible position has to be taken.
- What documentation you need to preserve to support the position at audit.
- How to record the decision in your subledger so future preparers can follow it.
For most clients, this category of decision appears multiple times in a single year. Getting the methodology right once — and applying it consistently — is what distinguishes a defensible return from a guess. This is the work we do every quarter on a Subledger engagement; it is the work we re-do under engagement when a prior preparer left it undocumented.
5. Pre-2026 planning: positions worth establishing before the effective date
Under current law, wash-sale rules do not apply to cryptocurrency — a feature that allows tax-loss harvesting strategies not available for securities. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included provisions extending wash-sale treatment to digital assets effective January 1, 2026. This post explains what the rule requires, which strategies are blocked, which remain viable, and what planning moves are worth making before the effective date.
This section walks through the practical details for crypto holders, traders, and operators. In an engagement, this is the work product Chainblock Financial produces: documented methodology, citation to authority where it exists, and explicit identification of open questions where it doesn’t.
Key considerations
- The specific rule, regulation, or guidance that applies — with citation.
- Where the guidance is silent and a defensible position has to be taken.
- What documentation you need to preserve to support the position at audit.
- How to record the decision in your subledger so future preparers can follow it.
For most clients, this category of decision appears multiple times in a single year. Getting the methodology right once — and applying it consistently — is what distinguishes a defensible return from a guess. This is the work we do every quarter on a Subledger engagement; it is the work we re-do under engagement when a prior preparer left it undocumented.
This is the work we do.
Every Chainblock engagement applies this methodology to your actual transactions, your actual entity structure, and your actual exposure. If you’d rather have it done than read about how it’s done, schedule a 30-minute intake call.
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