First HMRC crypto figures show a young, male minority booking most of the gains

On Thursday, HM Revenue and Customs for the first time split cryptoasset gains out from the rest of the capital gains pile. In the 2024-25 tax year, 17,600 people declared £1.38 billion in taxable crypto gains.

That included a cluster of 240 people who each cleared more than £1 million, taking £717 million of that.

240 filers took £717 million of a £1.38 billion pot

The 240 millionaire filers account for less than 2% of all those who reported a crypto disposal. HMRC’s commentary ascribes more than half of the gains and the £13.8 billion of disposal proceeds to them.

The bulk of crypto taxpayers, 65%, reported gains of under £25,000. That majority accounted for only 7% of the gains and 8% of the proceeds.

The average gain per person was £78,000, a figure the cohort of millionaires drags well upwards.

These figures surface now because the Self Assessment form at last has a specific box for crypto disposals. Prior to 2024-25, they were included in the overall property and assets category.

Men made up 87% of filers and booked 93% of the total

71% of all proceeds from the disposal of crypto came from people aged 25 to 44, but they only took home 45% of the gains. This age group generates the most volume but converts the least to profit.

Some 54% of crypto taxpayers are in the 25-44 age band, compared with 17% of capital gains taxpayers overall. And 81% are 54 or under.

Those who pay crypto taxes tend to be much younger than the typical capital gains tax population.

87% of those reporting gains from crypto were men, versus 56% across the broader capital gains population. They booked 93% of the gains.

HMRC sent 81,000 “nudge” letters to suspected under-payers over the past year, up 25% from about 65,000 the year before, Cryptopolitan reported. These letters are not investigations; they offer a window to disclose before HMRC moves.

Under the OECD’s Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, which the UK commenced implementing in January 2026, HMRC expects to start receiving customer data from crypto service providers in 2027.

From May 31, 2027, it is set to automatically pull information on UK residents from exchanges in 52 jurisdictions, with another 15 following in 2028.

“Like shooting fish in a barrel,” said Neela Chauhan, a partner at UHY Hacker Young, describing what chasing non-compliant investors will look like once that data arrives.

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