HMRC has sent 81,000 warning letters to crypto holders this year. The number has nearly tripled since 2024. The taxman is apparently very interested in your portfolio now.
These letters arrive like clockwork—personalized, detailed, and frankly more attentive than most relationships. They know exactly what you bought, when you bought it, and how much you’re pretending it was worth. The crypto community is starting to wonder if HMRC cares more about their holdings than their own mothers do.
What’s driving this sudden surge of affection from the tax office? Blockchain is immutable. Every transaction lives forever on a public ledger. HMRC hired people whose entire job is to read that ledger and write increasingly romantic correspondence to people who thought they were anonymous. They were not.
The letters don’t demand anything yet—they’re more like opening moves in a very slow courtship. They’re notices. Warnings. Invitations to voluntarily disclose. The subtext is clear: we know everything, and we’re very patient.
Crypto holders who ignored previous correspondence are now getting the follow-up letters. The ones that say we’ve noticed you haven’t responded. We’re still here. We’re always here. We have a spreadsheet with your name on it.
The real romance starts when someone tries to argue their Bitcoin was a gift, or that they lost the keys, or that they genuinely believed Dogecoin wasn’t taxable because it was a meme. HMRC will love that conversation. They’ve been waiting for it.