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Crypto and the automatic exchange of information in 2026

Switzerland is not running the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets in 2026. What the federal position actually says, and why your crypto still belongs in your tax return.

Published on 10.09.2026 · 6 min read

Switzerland is not running the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets in 2026. In its updated version of 18.05.2026, the State Secretariat for International Finance says Switzerland will implement this exchange from 1 January 2027 at the earliest. No obligations apply to Switzerland under this agreement for the 2026 calendar year, and Switzerland will not receive any crypto-asset data from abroad for that year either.

None of that changes your tax return. Cryptocurrencies already count as taxable wealth today, and they are declared at their market value at the end of the tax period. That duty hangs on Swiss tax law rather than on the exchange, and it applied to tax year 2025 in exactly the same way.

I went back to the source on this one, because two different dates are circulating. Both of them come from the federal government. One of them has been overtaken.

What this exchange actually is

The exchange on crypto-assets is a data channel between tax administrations. Providers of crypto services report information about their customers to the tax authority where they are based, and that authority passes it on to the country where the customer lives.

It is not a new form for you. It is a report about you that travels between authorities.

Because the channel runs through providers, it covers holdings you keep with one. The reporting framework comes from the OECD and sits alongside the exchange on financial accounts that has run for years. The State Secretariat names the purpose as closing gaps in the tax-transparency rules and treating the crypto sector like the traditional financial sector.

A report is information that authorities pass between themselves. A declaration is what you write in your own tax return. The second one does not depend on the first.

Why the start date moved

Activation needs two decisions from Parliament, and only one exists.

Parliament approved the crypto-asset exchange agreement, which is the international legal basis, in its final vote of 26.09.2025. The Federal Council can only ratify it once Parliament has also approved the partner states, and that second item is still pending.

On 06.06.2025 the Federal Council put a list of 74 partner states to Parliament, including every EU member state and the United Kingdom. Its timeline at that point was entry into force in 2026, with a first data exchange in 2027. That is the older statement, and events have overtaken it.

Until the partner states are approved, the treaty does not apply to Switzerland. The provisions of the federal act and the ordinance on the international automatic exchange of information in tax matters also do not apply in 2026 as far as crypto-assets are concerned. Swiss providers of crypto services carry no corresponding due-diligence duties in 2026 under Swiss law.

When the first data exchange actually happens is not something the State Secretariat states in its current version. The timing depends on Parliament. The Federal Tax Administration's guidance on this exchange follows only after the implementation decision.

Why your trading platform is already asking for a self-declaration

The answer sits in the same document, and it is not the obvious one.

Providers may adapt their self-declaration to meet the OECD reporting requirements from 01.01.2026, at their own discretion and on their own contractual basis. No Swiss obligation under the crypto-asset reporting framework exists in 2026. A provider asking you now is neither early nor out of line. There are several possible reasons: it is preparing, it is meeting another country's law, or it falls as a reporting financial institution under the widened Common Reporting Standard that the next section covers.

The postponement also moved a cut-off date that is easy to miss. The date that determines who counts as an existing crypto-asset user now falls on the day before Switzerland activates the exchange with its first partner state. The provider's twelve-month window for obtaining a self-declaration from those existing users only starts running from that point.

What did come into force on 1 January 2026

This tends to disappear in the short news items.

The changes to the exchange on financial accounts, the Common Reporting Standard, did take effect on 01.01.2026 as planned. They widened the term "financial asset" to include certain crypto-assets, and added rules covering certain e-money products and central bank digital currencies.

So crypto-assets are not entirely outside the exchange in 2026. What has been postponed is the dedicated reporting framework for crypto-assets, not the widening of the financial-account standard.

Exactly which crypto-assets fall under the wider definition is not something the State Secretariat lists here; the reporting standard itself settles that.

Do I still have to declare crypto in my tax return?

Yes, independently of everything above. The Federal Tax Administration treats pure digital means of payment as movable capital assets. They are therefore subject to the cantonal wealth tax and are declared at their market value at the end of the tax period.

The wealth tax being cantonal has a practical consequence: the same holding produces different tax in two municipalities. The declared figure is the same everywhere, the rate is not.

Which rate you use depends on whether the currency appears in the Federal Tax Administration's Kursliste:

  • If it does, the tax value published there as at 31.12 applies.
  • If it does not, the market value on one of the leading trading platforms can be used. Which platform your canton accepts is set out in its guide.

Here is the arithmetic, on assumed rates. At 31.12.2025 you hold 0.5 units of a currency that appears in the Kursliste, and the tax value there is an assumed CHF 80'000 per unit. You declare CHF 40'000. Alongside it you hold 200 units of a smaller currency with no published tax value; at an assumed year-end rate of CHF 12.50 on a leading platform, that is CHF 2'500. The Wertschriften- und Guthabenverzeichnis, the securities and credit balances register, then shows CHF 42'500. Both rates here are assumed and do not replace a look at the Kursliste for your own tax year.

In practice this means that for the wealth declaration you need the holding per currency as at 31 December, not the path it took through the year. If you hold across several platforms, collect those figures when each publishes its year-end statement. Where a holding sits in a wallet with no provider, there is no statement to attach. It still gets declared, by the same rule.

In the Canton of Bern such amounts belong under other capital investments not yet declared, and a separate list can be submitted where there are many positions. What your own canton calls the field is in its guide.

For how the tax value at 31 December comes about, see Your Swiss securities register: where the tax value at 31 December comes from. To see roughly what extra wealth costs in your municipality, try the tax comparison.

Whether events alongside this create income, staking or mining, depends on your situation and is worth a separate look. When TaxWize reads a crypto statement, it values tokens that appear in the Kursliste at the published tax value, the rest at the value on the statement.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is the automatic exchange of information on crypto-assets running in 2026?
No. The State Secretariat for International Finance states that Switzerland will implement this exchange from 1 January 2027 at the earliest. There are no obligations for Switzerland under this agreement for the 2026 calendar year, and Switzerland will receive no crypto-asset data from abroad for 2026 either. Parliament decides when it is activated.
Do I still have to declare my cryptocurrencies?
Yes. The duty to declare does not depend on the exchange of information. The Federal Tax Administration classifies pure digital means of payment as movable capital assets. They are therefore subject to the cantonal wealth tax and are declared at their market value at the end of the tax period. The same applied for tax year 2025.
Which rate do I have to use?
The Federal Tax Administration publishes tax values for the most widespread cryptocurrencies in its Kursliste. For currencies with no published tax value, the market value on one of the leading trading platforms can be used. Which platform your canton accepts for this is set out in its guide. It is worth checking the Kursliste itself for the value that applies to your tax year.
Why is my trading platform asking me for a self-declaration?
The State Secretariat for International Finance confirms that providers may adapt their self-declaration to the OECD requirements from 01.01.2026 at their own discretion. No Swiss obligation under the crypto-asset reporting framework exists in 2026. A provider that asks anyway is doing it on its own contractual basis, under another country's law, or because it falls as a reporting financial institution under the Common Reporting Standard, widened to certain crypto-assets on 01.01.2026.
Why do I keep reading that the exchange starts in 2026?
Because two federal timelines are in circulation. On 6 June 2025 the Federal Council planned entry into force in 2026 with a first data exchange in 2027. Parliament has not yet approved the partner states, and without that approval the treaty cannot be activated. The more recent statement, from the State Secretariat on 18 May 2026, is the one that governs.

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