Kraken submitted 56 million crypto tax forms for 2025, most reporting gains under $50, and is now calling on Congress to overhaul what it calls an unworkable reporting threshold.
Summary
- Kraken filed 56 million IRS tax forms for 2025, with the majority covering transactions under $50.
- The exchange argues the current $10 reporting threshold creates unnecessary burden for both users and platforms.
- Kraken is now lobbying Congress to raise the threshold and simplify crypto tax reporting rules.
Kraken filed 56 million crypto tax forms with the IRS for the 2025 tax year, and the exchange says the volume exposes a fundamental flaw in how digital asset transactions are currently reported. Most of those forms covered amounts under $50. The exchange disclosed the figures in a public blog post and used them to make a direct case to Congress: the existing $10 minimum reporting threshold is too low and needs to change.
Kraken Crypto Tax Forms Flood the IRS With Low-Value Reports
Kraken’s filing volume for 2025 dwarfs what most traditional brokerages process, and the exchange says the numbers prove the current framework was not designed with crypto in mind. Under existing IRS rules inherited from traditional finance, crypto platforms must report transactions above $10. Kraken has argued that applying that standard to digital assets generates millions of low-value filings that add compliance costs without meaningful tax revenue gains. “The vast majority of these forms represent transactions so small they would never trigger reporting requirements in traditional markets,” Kraken said in its post.
Kraken Pushes Congress to Rewrite the Rules
Kraken is now pushing lawmakers to raise the reporting threshold significantly, though it stopped short of naming a specific figure in its public statement. The exchange framed the ask as a matter of practicality. Filing tens of millions of forms for sub-$50 transactions strains platform infrastructure, creates confusion for retail users, and delivers little actionable data to regulators, according to Kraken’s post. The move comes as Congress is already debating broader crypto tax and disclosure reform. The IRS has been expanding its digital asset reporting requirements steadily since 2026, with broker reporting rules set to take effect in phases through 2026 and 2027.
Crypto Tax Reporting Remains a Flashpoint
Kraken’s push adds pressure to that timeline. If Congress moves to raise the reporting floor, it could reduce compliance costs across the industry and narrow the number of forms platforms are required to generate each year. The crypto industry has broadly pushed back against IRS broker reporting rules, arguing the definitions used do not reflect how decentralized networks actually operate. For retail investors, the implications are significant. Millions of small holders who traded crypto in 2025 may have received IRS forms for transactions they never considered taxable events.
Kraken said it plans to continue advocating for threshold reform as the broader crypto regulatory debate moves forward in Washington.
