Do I get Form 1099-DA if I trade crypto for crypto? (2026)

Do I get Form 1099-DA if I trade crypto for crypto?

Yes. Trading one cryptocurrency for another is a taxable disposal. You’ll pay capital gains tax based on how the price of your cryptocurrency changed since you originally received it, just as you would if you were selling cryptocurrency. 

You'll receive Form 1099-DA from any centralized exchange where you made crypto-to-crypto in 2025.

When you trade Bitcoin for Ethereum, you're technically disposing of your Bitcoin, which creates a taxable event.

How crypto-to-crypto trades are taxed

Every time you trade one crypto for another, you realize a capital gain or loss (even if you never cash out to USD). 

Your tax liability depends on how long you held the crypto before trading it. 

If you hold your crypto for a year or less, you’ll pay short-term capital gains at your regular income tax rate (10-37%). If you hold your crypto for more than a year, you’ll pay long-term capital gains tax at 0%, 15%, or 20% depending on your income bracket. 

What information is on Form 1099-DA? 

Your Form 1099-DA list all of your cryptocurrency disposals (including crypto-to-crypto trades) that took place on the platform with the following information:

• Name of the cryptocurrency you disposed of
• Date of the trade
• Number of units traded
• Proceeds (the fair market value of the crypto you disposed of at the time of the trade)
• Cost basis (the fair market value of your crypto when you acquired it, may be inaccurate) 
• Date cryptocurrency was acquired (if your exchange has this information)
• Date cryptocurrency was disposed of 

Why cost basis is often missing for crypto trades

Missing/incomplete data on cost basis (the original price at which you acquired your crypto) is common on Form 1099-DA. This typically happens because exchanges can only see transactions that occur on their own platform.

That means when you transfer cryptocurrency between wallets, your cost basis will most likely show up as missing on Form 1099-DA. 

Example 

Julie buys $10,000 of BTC on Exchange A. 

She transfers her BTC to a cold wallet. 

Months later, Julie trades her BTC for $12,000 of SOL on Exchange B. 

In this case, Julie’s capital gain should be $2,000, but Exchange B does not know her original purchase price. It’s likely that Sara’s trade will be reported on Form 1099-DA as $12,000 of proceeds with no cost basis. If Sara hasn’t kept records of her original purchase, she may owe taxes on the full $12,000. 

Luckily, it’s easy to fix cost basis problems. There’s no need to request a corrected Form 1099-DA in cases like the example above. The IRS allows taxpayers to report the correct cost basis for their cryptocurrency disposals on Form 8949 (provided that they have supporting documentation from their exchange or from their crypto tax software). 

What do I do with my Form 1099-DA?

When you receive Form 1099-DA, it’s important to remember that it’s just a starting point for reporting your taxes. Because of the cost basis problems mentioned earlier, you should avoid simply copying and pasting numbers from the form: 

Here's what you should do: 

Review your Form 1099-DA: Check that the proceeds numbers on Form 1099-DA match your records. While cost basis discrepancies are common and expected, major discrepancies in proceeds may lead to follow-up from the IRS. 

Gather records for all platforms: Pull transaction history from every wallet, exchange, and decentralized application that you’ve used. 

Calculate your cost basis: Use your own records to determine what you originally paid for each crypto you traded. This might require digging through old purchase records or bank statements. Alternatively, you can use crypto tax software like CoinLedger to handle the process automatically. 

Complete Form 8949: List each crypto-to-crypto trade on Form 8949 with the correct cost basis, proceeds, and gain or loss. 

Transfer totals to Schedule D: Add up your gains and losses and include them with your tax return.

What do I do if Form 1099-DA is wrong?

In some cases, your Form 1099-DA may contain major errors. This may include purchases inaccurately labelled as sales, or major discrepancies in proceeds numbers. 

Here’s what you should do if you find yourself in this situation: 

Calculate your actual liability: Use your transaction records or crypto tax software to figure out what you really owe.

Request a corrected form: Contact the exchange's support team and ask for a corrected Form 1099-DA. Explain exactly what's wrong and keep documentation, so you can show the IRS a good-faith effort to resolve the issue. 

File for an extension if needed. If you're waiting on a corrected form and the April deadline is approaching, file for an extension. This gives your exchange more time to provide a corrected form. 

Attach an explanation: Attach a memo to your tax return noting the error on Form 1099-DA, the steps you took to fix it, and how your Form 8949 reflects your actual activity.

How CoinLedger can help

Tracking cost basis across multiple crypto-to-crypto trades is difficult and stressful. CoinLedger automates the entire process.

Connect your wallets and exchanges, and CoinLedger imports every transaction automatically. The software calculates your cost basis for each trade, even when you've moved crypto between platforms.

Get started with CoinLedger for free.