Every income tax campaign the same scene is repeated: that client arrives with a face like “I haven’t sold anything”, convinced that his cryptocurrency operations are not taxed because he hasn’t withdrawn a single euro to his bank account. And that is the beginning of our fiscal tragicomedy…
🎬 Act I: the myth of the eternal HODL
“But if I just traded ETH for USDC?” “If it’s all inside Binance, why does the IRS care?” Spoiler: it cares. A lot. Because, surprise, the passage from a crypto to a stablecoin is considered a patrimonial transfer. In plain English: it’s like selling.
And here comes the scare. What for the trader is just “switching to a more stable currency”, for the Tax Agency is a taxable event like a cathedral.
⚖️ Act II: the European tax doctrine (a tragicomedy in several languages)
Although it may seem like a European mess worthy of Kafka, the truth is that most EU member countries apply the same criteria: converting a cryptoasset to a stablecoin (such as USDT, USDC, DAI…) is like selling it for euros. Whichever way you look at it, Treasury always wins.
📜 Tax treatment by country (updated to 2025)
| Country | Crypto to stablecoin? | Legal/doctrinal basis |
| 🇪🇸Spain | Yes | Consulta Vinculante DGT V0999-18 and subsequent consultations: any exchange of cryptos, even if it is to stablecoin, is considered a capital gain or loss. |
| 🇫🇷France | Yes | BOFiP – BOI-RPPM-PVBMC-30-10-20-40: exchange between cryptoassets is considered a generating fact if converted to stablecoin. |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | Yes | Resolution 72/E of the Agenzia delle Entrate (2016) + update following Legislative Decree no. 209/2023. As of 2023, all relevant exchanges (>51,645.69 € in 7 days) are taxable. |
| 🇩🇪Germany | Yes | § 23 Abs. 1 Nr. 2 EStG (Income Tax Law): it is considered private speculation if the sale or exchange occurs before 1 year. |
| 🇵🇹Portugal | Yes | Art. 10-A of the IRS Code, introduced by Law No. 24-D/2022 (State Budget 2023): considers transfers of cryptoassets as taxable. |
| 🇳🇱Netherlands | Yes | Wet inkomstenbelasting 2001, Box 3 (asset tax): it is considered as an increase in assets subject to annual taxation. |
| 🇧🇪Belgium | Yes, if regular/professional | CIR 92, art. 90, 1° + internal circulars: regular transactions with cryptoassets are taxed as miscellaneous or professional income. |
| 🇦🇹Austria | Yes | EStG § 27b (2022 reform): cryptoassets are taxed with withholding tax at 27.5%, including on swaps to stablecoin. |
| 🇸🇪Sweden | Yes | Skatteverket guidance (SKV M 2020:23): every swap between cryptoassets, including into stablecoins, generates profit/loss. |
| 🇫🇮Finland | Yes | Vero Skatt tax instruction (updated 2023): conversion from one crypto to another (including stablecoins) is taxable. |
😱 Act III: the income statement scare
When the client sees the tax summary and the amount to be paid after 2000 trading operations with stablecoins, his face pales. Because the fiction of stability becomes an avalanche of transmissions subject to IRPF.
“But I was just protecting my profits!”
-Yeah, right… and you’ve inadvertently generated a taxable income that makes you laugh at Wall Street Bets!
🧠 Moral (fiscal and emotional)
The use of stablecoins in internal trading operations is not innocent. Even less so is it invisible to the tax authorities. In fact, it is no longer a matter of “taking out FIAT” as a threshold: the taxable event is in the conversion itself.
🧩 Therefore, having a clear tax strategy, annual simulations, and professional advice is as important as choosing the right token.
