The impact of CARF on the global cryptocurrency industry

Key insights:

• • • CARF is a global initiative designed to bring tax transparency to cryptocurrency — CARF aims to prevent tax evasion by requiring crypto service providers to report customer and transaction data to tax authorities, who then share this information internationally.

    • CARF’s adoption is rapidly progressing — With widespread international buy-in, platforms are now compelled to expand their KYC standards, necessitating significant overhauls in data collection, user on-boarding, and detailed transaction categorization.

    • CARF is pushing cryptocurrency towards a more transparent, regulated, and institution-friendly future — While CARF promises to reduce fraud and harmonize rules, it could also create a split market between the regulated and the hidden, sparking ongoing debates about privacy and enforcement.

As cryptocurrencies exploded in popularity over the past few years, tax authorities around the world faced a growing problem. While they had successfully created systems to track traditional banking transactions through the Common Reporting Standard (CRS), crypto transactions were happening completely outside this framework. People could buy, sell, and trade digital assets through exchanges and wallet providers without their home countries’ tax authorities knowing anything about it.

Recognizing this threat to global tax transparency, the G20 asked the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to develop a solution. The result was the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) — essentially a crypto version of the existing banking transparency rules.

CARF works by requiring cryptocurrency service providers, such as exchanges and wallet providers, to collect information about their customers and report their transactions to local tax authorities. These authorities then share this information with the customers’ home countries, just like they do with traditional bank account data.

The goal is simple: Prevent the crypto market from becoming a way for people to hide taxable income and transactions from their governments, preserving the progress made in global tax transparency over the past several years.

The current status of crypto-regulation

By 2025, a monumental shift had occurred in the landscape of global cryptocurrency regulation. More than 60 nations — encompassing all G7 members and most G20 economies — formally embraced CARF, marking a palpable acceleration toward a standardized international approach. Already, 52 of these jurisdictions were diligently preparing to exchange their initial batches of data by 2027, with an additional 15 poised to follow suit in 2028.

While widespread adoption was evident, a handful of prominent crypto markets had yet to officially join the CARF agreement. Nevertheless, a clear wave of international pressure was mounting, aimed at bringing these remaining nations into compliance and thereby preventing them from inadvertently fostering illicit financial activities.

Indeed, cornerstone of CARF across these diverse jurisdictions was its commitment to consistency. Core definitions and reporting requirements were meticulously crafted to be uniform, fostering a level playing field and simplifying implementation. Any variations observed between countries primarily pertained to practicalities, such as their specific implementation timelines, the penalties associated with non-compliance, and whether domestic, non-cross-border crypto transactions would also fall under reporting mandates.

The advent of CARF fundamentally reshaped the operational paradigms for crypto platforms. The established Know Your Customer (KYC) principle for financial services regulation, traditionally focused on anti-money laundering, now expanded to encompass a new imperative: Know Your Customer’s Tax Status, with platforms mandated to report accordingly.

This profound shift necessitated a significant overhaul for many crypto businesses, as they now faced the challenge of upgrading their systems for user on-boarding and data management. This included the crucial task of collecting self-certifications of tax residency from their users and implementing novel procedures to identify the controlling individuals of any entity customers. Moreover, platforms were now required to meticulously gather detailed transaction data, carefully categorizing each entry by type, differentiating between fiat-to-crypto, crypto-to-crypto, and various forms of transfers.

What the future holds

By 2030, CARF could mark crypto’s shift into a transparent, accountable asset class. Best case, it mainstreams crypto, reduces fraud and tax evasion, and harmonizes rules across countries while allowing for further innovation. Worst case, strict enforcement drives activity underground and deepens rifts with regulators. Most likely, we land in the middle: More transparency and fewer havens that ignore CARF or similar rules.

Indeed, CARF is a major test of global crypto-governance. Its success depends on international cooperation, competent enforcement, and the industry’s ability to adapt to new transparency standards. The era of easily hiding wealth in crypto is ending, and a more accountable — and possibly more trusted — system is emerging.

CARF likely will make crypto look more like traditional finance. Clearer tax rules and reporting could draw in large institutions and more everyday users. Compliant exchanges may operate more easily across borders under a single standard, and markets in CARF countries may become more professional, with fewer anonymous users and more strong oversight.

Yet, some worry that this could cause the market to split, leaving, on one hand, a regulated, transparent side and on the other, a hidden side using privacy tools and decentralized systems. Governments will try to shrink the latter by expanding CARF and improving analytics, possibly using AI to match blockchain activity with reported data. This, of course, will spark debates about accuracy and privacy.

Rules will keep evolving, especially for decentralized finance and self-custody. We may get clearer guidance on when decentralized platforms must report; and if more activity moves peer-to-peer, some countries could require individuals to declare holdings and income directly. CARF data might also be used — carefully and with safeguards — for financial crime enforcement, which would naturally raise civil liberties concerns.

For most users, crypto may become just another taxable asset. You buy, sell, earn staking rewards, and receive tax forms or pre-filled reports. New services will emerge, such as crypto tax tools, compliance-linked insurance, and cross-border tax optimization. Privacy tech will advance too, including ways to prove compliance without revealing everything.

Today, governments expect higher tax revenue and better compliance — and strong results with CARF will attract more countries. Eventually, tax authorities will use CARF data to verify returns, send notices, and audit mismatches. For compliant users, this should be routine; and for non-compliant users, risks and costs will rise.