Changes in practice, official publications and the answers obtained from the cantonal administrations. Topics that deserve more detail are covered in a newsletter. To receive this news once a month by email, tick the “monthly news round-up” option when you sign up.
30 October 2026International
On 29 October, Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, detected fraudulent withdrawals from its internet-connected wallets. It estimates the amount stolen at about 6.3 billion dollars, the largest theft in the history of cryptocurrencies. According to its initial analysis, the attacker got in through an engineer's laptop. Withdrawals were suspended; as at 31 October they had not yet resumed, and Binance announces a gradual reopening.
Binance states that its customers' funds are safe and that it will cover all losses. About 3 billion dollars have already been frozen, notably by stablecoin issuers. Blockchain analytics firms attribute the attack to North Korean hackers; Binance has not confirmed this.
For a person resident in Switzerland, if withdrawals reopen and your balance is intact, nothing changes: you declare your cryptocurrencies at their value as at 31 December. If withdrawals were still suspended at the end of the year, the tokens remain part of your wealth. In any case, take a dated screenshot of your balance now and export your transaction history.
Sources: TechCrunch, 29 October 2026; NBC News, 30 October 2026. · Hacked tokens, bankrupt platform: what to tell the tax authorities?
21 October 2026Confederation
On 20 October, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) authorised for the first time an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that invests directly in bitcoin and is open to private investors. It is an “other fund for alternative investments”, for which FINMA granted an exemption from the risk diversification rules. FINMA did not name the fund; its manager, BIT Asset Management, presented it the same day as the “Bitcoin Fund ETF” (ticker BBIT), with a listing on SIX Swiss Exchange announced for November. Other applications are pending with FINMA.
FINMA points out that investing in bitcoin, even through an authorised ETF, remains very risky: the capital invested may lose a large part of its value.
For a person resident in Switzerland, a unit of this ETF is declared, like any fund unit, in the list of securities, at its value as at 31 December. Fiscoin will come back to the differences with bitcoin held directly once the fund's characteristics have been published.
Source: FINMA, press release of 20 October 2026; BIT Asset Management, press release of 20 October 2026.
15 October 2026International
On 14 October, the European Banking Authority (EBA) classified Circle's USDC as the first “significant” e-money token under the European MiCA regulation, out of 45 such tokens notified in the Union. From 12 November 2026, the EBA will itself supervise its reserves, own funds, liquidity and redemption plans; the French authority (ACPR) retains oversight of the issuer's governance. Better redemption guarantees for holders, with no change in how it is used.
For a person resident in Switzerland, nothing changes for tax purposes: USDC is still declared as wealth, at its value as at 31 December.
Source: European Banking Authority, press release of 14 October 2026.
14 October 2026International
Ledger has confirmed that a device sold by CryptoBilis, an unauthorised reseller, contained a spy component added after manufacture. Users, mainly in South-East Asia, have reported the theft of their cryptocurrencies; the losses estimated by investigators vary by source, between 86 and 103 million dollars, and Ledger has not confirmed them. At this stage, only devices bought from this reseller are affected.
For a person resident in Switzerland, stolen cryptocurrencies are in principle no longer part of their wealth as at 31 December. For private wealth, a loss is as a rule not deductible. Keep the evidence of the theft and of your purchases.
Sources: The Hacker News; Daily Security Review. · Hacked tokens, bankrupt platform: what to tell the tax authorities?
8 October 2026Graubünden
The Graubünden tax administration states that cryptocurrencies are declared in the list of securities, under other assets, and that the wallet addresses and their public key must be stated in the remarks of the list of securities. They allow it to check the value of tokens missing from the Federal Tax Administration's price list. Bank tax statements must be enclosed with the tax return.
It is the first canton to set this requirement. Its public guidance, dated 1 December 2024, only asks for a statement of holdings as at 31 December; the requirement for addresses comes from its written answer. A public address gives no access to the tokens, but it opens the entire transaction history on the blockchain to the administration. Never disclose your private key or your recovery phrase.
The guidance also classifies income from mining, staking, liquidity mining and lending as investment income, in the absence of self-employed activity. The written answer adds airdrops.
Sources: written answer from the Steuerverwaltung of the canton of Graubünden, 8 October 2026; Praxisfestlegung 054-01 “Besteuerung von Kryptowährungen”, as at 1 December 2024. · Graubünden page
8 October 2026Vaud
The Vaud tax administration specifies that cryptocurrencies are entered under code 420 of the tax return, “Numéraire, billets de banque, or, autres métaux précieux et crypto-monnaies” (cash, banknotes, gold, other precious metals and cryptocurrencies), and not in the list of securities, where most cantons place them.
In VaudTax, this section accepts only an amount, with no description of the holdings. Taxpayers who hold several cryptocurrencies must therefore enclose a detailed list with their tax return: each token, its quantity and the price used.
No threshold is set below which these details would not be requested: checks are assessed case by case, depending on the size of the amounts. If the administration asks for supporting documents, statements printed from the platform are sufficient, and sometimes simple screenshots. For a token missing from the Federal Tax Administration's price list, it looks up the price as at 31 December on the internet itself, with no reference website.
Source: written answer from the Direction générale de la fiscalité of the canton of Vaud, October 2026. · Vaud page
2 October 2026Confederation
Two cantonal administrations confirm that the Federal Tax Administration is preparing an update of its working paper on cryptocurrencies, covering in particular decentralised finance applications. These are missing from the current version, which dates from 14 December 2021 and is based on the facts submitted up to the end of 2020.
The canton of Zurich expects publication in the course of 2027, the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden probably at the beginning of 2027. If the second estimate proves correct, the new version would come out during the tax return season.
Sources: written answers from the tax administrations of Zurich and Appenzell Ausserrhoden, September 2026.
1 October 2026Neuchâtel
The Neuchâtel tax administration states that additional supporting documents are requested when it cannot understand how a taxpayer's wealth has changed, whether upwards or downwards.
So it is neither an amount threshold nor a random check, but the detection of an anomaly in the change in wealth from one year to the next. Wealth that rises without explanation attracts attention; so does wealth that falls.
Source: written answer from the Service des contributions of the canton of Neuchâtel, 1 October 2026. · Neuchâtel page
28 September 2026Uri
The canton of Uri is the only one to distinguish cryptocurrencies according to whether or not they have a security number (Valorennummer), the Swiss identifier for tradable securities. Those that have one are declared in the securities section, the others under other assets.
The split is not optional: the cantonal software refuses to submit the tax return if the two categories are mixed up. The Federal Tax Administration's price list, which now covers more than eighty cryptocurrencies, shows the security number of each one.
Source: written answer from the Amt für Steuern of the canton of Uri, 28 September 2026. · Uri page
7 January 2026Basel-Stadt
The canton of Basel-Stadt has updated its information sheet on the taxation of cryptocurrencies, applicable from the 2025 tax period. It explicitly names staking, airdrops, lending, yield farming and mining as generating investment income, and covers transaction fees received, a case no other canton addresses.
A notable feature: the information sheet has a section on passive income earned online, including the automated sale of self-created digital products, e-books and software included.
Source: Merkblatt of the Steuerverwaltung of the canton of Basel-Stadt, 7 January 2026. · Basel-Stadt page