HMRC Data: 240 Crypto Millionaires Declared in the UK in 2025
HMRC has published its first official snapshot of cryptoasset capital gains in the UK, and the numbers are striking. A total of 17,600 individuals reported digital asset gains during the 2024 to 2025 tax year, collectively declaring £1.9 billion in gains and £18.7 billion in disposals. At the top of that population sit 240 people who each reported more than £1 million (roughly $1.4 million) in crypto gains, accounting for around £975 million of that total between them. If you hold or trade crypto in the UK, this data release signals that HMRC is watching the market far more closely than it once did, and that the consequences of getting your crypto tax UK filing wrong are only growing.
What the HMRC Data Actually Shows
The figures come from HMRC's own statistical release, covering the 2024 to 2025 tax year. They are worth unpacking carefully because each number tells a different part of the story.
Gains, Disposals, and the 240 at the Top
The headline figure is the 240 individuals who each declared more than £1 million in cryptoasset capital gains. Together, they reported roughly £975 million in gains, which is a significant share of the £1.9 billion declared across all 17,600 filers. That ratio tells you something important: crypto wealth in the UK remains highly concentrated, with a small number of holders responsible for a large slice of reported taxable value.
The disposal figure, £18.7 billion, is the gross value of crypto sold or traded, not the profit. The gap between £18.7 billion in disposals and £1.9 billion in gains reflects costs, allowable deductions, and losses. It also reflects the fact that many transactions may have been near break-even or at a loss. For tax purposes, HMRC taxes the gain, not the gross disposal, so that distinction matters when you're calculating what you actually owe.
What James Murray Said
James Murray, Financial Secretary to the UK Treasury and Paymaster General, accompanied the release with a pointed statement: "Taxes are due on cryptoasset gains just like any other gains, and we want to make sure people making gains from crypto know about what taxes they owe." The language is deliberate. HMRC is not announcing a new policy here; it is reminding taxpayers that existing Capital Gains Tax rules have always applied to crypto, and that it now has the data infrastructure to identify those who haven't complied.
CARF: The Reporting Framework That Changes Everything
The timing of this data release is not coincidental. The OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, known as CARF, is now in force, and the UK is among the jurisdictions committed to implementing it. Under CARF, crypto asset service providers, including centralised exchanges and certain other platforms, are required to collect and report data on their users' gains and losses directly to tax authorities. This is the crypto equivalent of the banking sector's Common Reporting Standard, which transformed cross-border tax enforcement for traditional financial assets.
What CARF Means for UK Holders
Before CARF, HMRC was largely reliant on taxpayers self-declaring their crypto activity. Letters and nudge campaigns helped, but the agency had limited visibility into what was actually happening on exchanges. CARF closes that gap. From 2025 onwards, onchain activity that falls within the framework's scope is expected to be reported to HMRC by the platforms facilitating it, whether or not the individual taxpayer chooses to disclose it themselves.
The practical implication is straightforward: if your exchange is reporting your disposals and gains to HMRC, and your tax return does not reflect those numbers, HMRC will notice. The agency already sent more than 81,000 letters to individuals it suspected of underpaying tax on crypto gains. Those 81,000 warning letters were sent before CARF data flows were fully operational. Once exchanges begin submitting standardised reports, the volume and precision of HMRC's enforcement activity is likely to increase substantially.
How Crypto Is Taxed in the UK: The Core Rules
Understanding how is crypto taxed in the UK is essential before you can act on any of this. The rules are set by HMRC's cryptoassets manual and have been stable for several years, even as the market has grown.
Capital Gains Tax on Disposals
Every time you sell, swap, spend, or gift crypto (other than to a spouse or civil partner), you create a disposal event. HMRC treats each disposal as a capital gains event. You calculate the gain by taking the disposal proceeds and subtracting your allowable cost, which is determined using HMRC's share pooling rules, known as the Section 104 pool. Any gain above your annual Capital Gains Tax allowance is taxable. For the 2024 to 2025 tax year, the allowance was £3,000.
The rate you pay depends on your total taxable income. Basic-rate taxpayers pay 18% on crypto gains; higher and additional-rate taxpayers pay 24%. These rates were adjusted in recent fiscal events and differ from the rates that applied in earlier tax years, which is one reason accurate records matter so much.
Income Tax on Crypto Received
Not all crypto receipts are capital gains events. Mining rewards, staking income, airdrops received in exchange for a service, and salary paid in crypto are all treated as income under HMRC's framework. Income Tax rates of 20%, 40%, or 45% apply depending on your tax band, and National Insurance contributions may also be due in certain scenarios. The distinction between income and capital gain is one of the most common points of confusion for UK crypto holders, and getting it wrong in either direction can result in either an underpayment or an unnecessary overpayment.
The Section 104 Pool and the 30-Day Rule
UK crypto tax rules include two anti-avoidance provisions that trip up many holders. The Section 104 pool means you cannot simply identify which specific coins you sold; instead, your cost basis is averaged across all holdings of the same asset. On top of that, the "bed and breakfasting" rule prevents you from selling crypto at a loss and immediately rebuying it to crystallise a loss for tax purposes. Any repurchase within 30 days of a sale is matched against that sale first, preventing the loss from being recognised. These rules mean that calculating your gains correctly is rarely as simple as subtracting your purchase price from your sale price.
What This Means If You're a UK Crypto Holder
The HMRC data release, combined with CARF implementation, creates a clear imperative to get your records in order now rather than waiting for a nudge letter to arrive. Here's what that looks like in practice.
Review Every Tax Year Still Open
HMRC can generally open an enquiry into a tax return up to four years after the filing date if a mistake was innocent. That window extends to six years for careless errors and is unlimited for deliberate non-disclosure. If you've held or traded crypto since 2019 or 2020 and haven't declared gains, you may already be within the enquiry window. Voluntary disclosure, using HMRC's Let Property Campaign-style processes or direct disclosure, typically results in lower penalties than waiting to be investigated.
Gather Your Transaction History Now
Every disposal needs a date, a proceeds figure, and an allowable cost. If you've used multiple exchanges, moved assets between wallets, or participated in DeFi protocols, assembling that history can be time-consuming. The earlier you start, the more options you have to resolve gaps. Exchange records are sometimes unavailable after a period of time, particularly for platforms that have ceased operating.
Understand the MTD Overlap
If you have self-employment or property income above the Making Tax Digital threshold, you may already be required to submit quarterly updates to HMRC. HMRC has auto-enrolled certain taxpayers in MTD for Income Tax, which changes the cadence and format of reporting. Crypto income, where it is taxed as income rather than capital gain, feeds into the same MTD process. Understanding where your crypto sits within your overall tax picture is increasingly important as digitalisation of the tax system accelerates.
Use a Reliable Crypto Tax Report Process
The complexity of the Section 104 pool, the 30-day rule, and the income versus capital gain distinction means that manual spreadsheets are prone to error for anyone with more than a handful of transactions. A reliable crypto tax report process, whether through a qualified accountant or a compliant calculation workflow, needs to handle all of these rules correctly and produce output that HMRC would accept if it chose to enquire.
For Accounting Firms and CFOs: The Advisory Opportunity
The HMRC data release is also significant for practitioners. The 17,600 individuals who reported crypto gains represent a relatively small fraction of the estimated number of UK adults who hold digital assets. The gap between estimated holders and declared gains is exactly the population that HMRC is targeting, and that population needs professional advice.
Accounting firms that can credibly advise on crypto tax UK obligations, from historic disclosure strategies through to CARF compliance and MTD integration, are well positioned to capture new clients from this cohort. CFOs at businesses that hold crypto on the balance sheet or pay employees in digital assets face a different but related set of questions around corporate tax treatment, which sits outside CGT entirely and is governed by corporation tax rules on intangible assets and foreign exchange.
The HMRC data also serves as a useful benchmark for scoping client portfolios. A client who has disposed of significant crypto value during the 2024 to 2025 year and has not yet filed, or filed without declaring crypto, is now in a higher-risk category than they were before CARF data flows began. Proactive outreach to those clients is both a professional duty and a commercial opportunity.
Source: Cointelegraph
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people reported crypto gains to HMRC in the 2024 to 2025 tax year?
HMRC's data shows that 17,600 individuals declared digital asset gains during the 2024 to 2025 tax year, with a combined total of £1.9 billion in gains and £18.7 billion in disposals.
Who are the 240 crypto millionaires HMRC is referring to?
They are 240 individuals who each declared more than £1 million (approximately $1.4 million) in cryptoasset capital gains in the same tax year. Between them, they reported around £975 million in gains.
What is CARF and how does it affect UK crypto holders?
CARF is the OECD's Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. It requires crypto asset service providers, such as centralised exchanges, to report user transaction data directly to tax authorities. In the UK, this means HMRC will increasingly receive information on gains and disposals from the platforms themselves, not just from what taxpayers choose to self-declare.
Do I pay Capital Gains Tax or Income Tax on my crypto in the UK?
It depends on the nature of the receipt. Selling, swapping, or spending crypto you already own creates a capital gains event. Receiving crypto as mining rewards, staking income, or salary creates an income event. Both types of tax can apply to the same person in the same year if they have both types of activity.
What should I do if I haven't declared crypto gains in previous years?
You should take advice from a qualified tax professional as soon as possible. HMRC can enquire into returns up to four years back for innocent errors, six years for careless ones, and indefinitely for deliberate non-disclosure. Voluntary disclosure before HMRC makes contact typically results in lower penalties than waiting.