India Records USD 19 Billion In Potentially Taxable Crypto Activity In 2025

As cryptocurrency activity continues to expand, tax authorities are facing a larger pool of transactions that may need to be tracked and assessed. According to blockchain data firm Chainalysis, potentially taxable on-chain crypto activity worldwide crossed USD 400 billion in 2025

The report estimates that potentially taxable on-chain crypto activity reached USD 457 billion globally in 2025. The analysis includes realised gains linked to centralised and decentralised exchanges, income from mining, staking, lending and gambling, as well as crypto-denominated payments.

How Much Crypto Activity Came From India

India accounted for USD 19 billion of the potentially taxable activity during the year. Of this, USD 3.2 billion came from income, USD 5.1 billion from gains and USD 10.7 billion from payments. The US recorded the highest potentially taxable crypto activity at USD 112.6 billion, followed by Germany at USD 24.18 billion, China at USD 21 billion and the UK at USD 19.4 billion. India ranked fifth among the countries listed in the analysis.

The figures are based on on-chain activity across six major blockchains: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Tron, BNB Smart Chain and Base. The report said the estimate is conservative and should be viewed as a lower boundary, as activity taking place within centralised exchanges is not visible on-chain.

Why Crypto Tax Reporting Is Getting Attention

The scale of potentially taxable crypto activity has also increased the focus on how tax authorities can track and obtain information about digital-asset transactions. One framework being introduced in this area is the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

CARF requires reporting crypto-asset service providers, including centralised exchanges and certain brokers, to collect customer information and report relevant crypto transactions to tax authorities. Dozens of countries have committed to begin exchanging information under the framework from 2027.

However, the analysis said CARF covers only a portion of the on-chain activity identified. CARF-inclusive events accounted for 14 per cent of global potentially taxable on-chain activity, while the remaining 86 per cent includes decentralised exchange activity, peer-to-peer transfers, on-chain income and payments.

Blockchain intelligence can complement traditional reporting by helping tax authorities trace wallet activity, identify transactions involving decentralised platforms and detect income from activities such as staking and lending. This can help provide a more complete picture of crypto activity relevant to tax assessment.