Form 1099-DA (Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions) is a brand-new information return. For 2025 sales and exchanges, custodial digital-asset brokers — think centralized exchanges and hosted-wallet platforms — must report each customer’s gross proceeds to the IRS and furnish a copy to the customer. Cost-basis reporting is phased in for 2026 sales. If you run a platform that takes custody of customers’ crypto and executes sales, you are almost certainly a broker who has to file.
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What Form 1099-DA Actually Reports
Until now there was no purpose-built form for digital assets. Brokers improvised with Form 1099-B or 1099-MISC, and the IRS got inconsistent, hard-to-match data. Form 1099-DA replaces that guesswork with a single return designed around how digital assets are actually sold.
The form reports the gross proceeds a customer received from selling or exchanging digital assets through a broker during the year, along with the details the IRS needs to match those proceeds to a taxpayer: the asset, the number of units, the acquisition and sale dates, and — once basis reporting begins — the customer’s cost basis and resulting gain or loss.
“Digital asset” is defined broadly: any digital representation of value recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger. That sweeps in cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), not just the well-known coins.
Who Must File a 1099-DA
The obligation falls on brokers, and the regulations define a broker as a party that, in the ordinary course of business, stands ready to effect sales of digital assets for others. In practice, the clearest cases are custodial: you take possession or control of the customer’s assets and execute the transaction.
| Who you are | File 1099-DA? |
|---|---|
| Centralized exchange holding customer crypto | Yes — custodial broker |
| Hosted-wallet provider that executes sales | Yes |
| Certain digital-asset payment processors | Yes, when acting as a broker |
| Real estate reporting person (digital asset consideration) | Yes — on Form 1099-S |
| Purely non-custodial / unhosted wallet software | Deferred — not required for now |
The IRS deferred reporting for non-custodial (“DeFi”) brokers, so front-ends that never take custody are outside the first wave. That is a timing reprieve, not a permanent exemption — watch for follow-on guidance before you assume you are out.
Who Receives a 1099-DA
Your customers receive one. If a person or entity sold or exchanged digital assets through your platform during the year, they get a statement showing their proceeds, and the same data goes to the IRS. Recipients use it to reconcile their crypto gains and losses on their return, the same way a 1099-B is used for stock sales.
Because the IRS now receives this data directly, the days of unreported crypto proceeds slipping through are ending. A mismatch between what you report and what the customer reports is exactly the kind of discrepancy that triggers a notice.
The Phase-In Timeline You Need to Plan Around
2025 sales — gross proceeds
Custodial brokers report gross proceeds for transactions on or after January 1, 2025, on 1099-DA forms furnished and filed in early 2026.
now2026 sales — add cost basis
Basis reporting phases in for covered assets acquired and sold starting in 2026, so gain/loss can be computed on the form.
nextThe practical takeaway: your first filing season covers proceeds only, but the systems you build now need a place to carry basis so you are ready when it becomes mandatory.
How 1099-DA Gets Filed: Through IRIS
Form 1099-DA is filed electronically through the IRS Information Returns Intake System (IRIS), the same platform that is replacing the legacy FIRE system for the whole 1099 series.
IRIS accepts 1099-DA as a native form type in its TY2025 schema, so the digital-asset detail — units, dates, proceeds, and (later) basis — maps to dedicated XML elements rather than being crammed into generic boxes. If you file 250 or more returns of any type, electronic filing through IRIS is mandatory; realistically, any broker with meaningful volume is filing electronically regardless of the count.
Filing 1099-DA at volume?
e1099f turns your existing files into validated IRIS XML and files them for you — digital-asset fields and all.
You Do Not Have to Build the XML Yourself
1099-DA native
Digital-asset units, dates, proceeds, and basis map to the real IRIS fields.
Pre-validated
Every record is checked against the IRS rules before we submit.
High-volume ready
Bulk filing and recipient copies for platforms with millions of customers.
A Receipt ID from the IRS — not a rejection — for every 1099-DA you send.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is the first Form 1099-DA due?
Do I report cost basis on the first 1099-DA?
Are decentralized (DeFi) platforms required to file?
Does 1099-DA replace 1099-B for crypto?
Are NFTs and stablecoins covered?
Can I file 1099-DA through IRIS?
What if a customer had many small transactions?
Not tax advice. Form 1099-DA rules are new and phasing in; the current IRS instructions and regulations are authoritative and may change. Confirm your specific obligations with a qualified advisor.