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Keeping Crypto Records From Day One

Owen Calder
Published
Illustration: an open ledger notebook with dated rows and ticks, a backup copy behind it, a pen and a "Day 1" tab.

Last checked: 17 October 2026

About this guide

General information for individuals in Australia who hold crypto as an investment, not personal tax advice. “The ATO says” marks the Australian Taxation Office’s requirements and guidance; “we suggest” marks our own tips. For how crypto is taxed, see Crypto Taxes in Australia.

The short version

  • Keep your own records from your first transaction. The ATO says a platform’s records aren’t enough.
  • Record every transaction, including transfers between your own wallets, with its Australian-dollar value at the time.
  • Export your history regularly and back it up.
  • Keep records while you hold the crypto and for at least five years after you sell, swap, spend or give it away.
  • Never put a seed phrase, private key, password or recovery code in them (see why).

What the ATO asks you to keep

The ATO says you must keep records of each of your crypto assets and every transaction, so you can work out whether you’ve made a capital gain or loss. It also says relying on a crypto platform (often called an exchange) to keep your records isn’t enough, because platforms can close and access to accounts or wallets can be lost.

The ATO’s list of crypto records to keep:

  • receipts when you buy, transfer or dispose of crypto;
  • the date of each transaction;
  • what each transaction was for, and who the other party was (their crypto address is enough);
  • exchange records (your crypto platform’s records);
  • the value in Australian dollars at the time of each transaction;
  • agent, accountant and legal costs;
  • “digital wallet records and keys” (more on this below);
  • software costs relating to managing your tax affairs.

Its tax-time guidance also lists the time and type of each transaction, brokerage or commission, the date and quantity of crypto received from staking or airdrops, and your gain or loss calculation when you sell. Keep details for each crypto asset separately: the ATO treats each one as a separate asset for capital gains tax (CGT).

Step 1: Start a record you control

Pick one place for your records, such as a spreadsheet or a notebook. The ATO says records must be in writing, on paper or electronically.

At the top, we suggest listing every crypto platform account and wallet you use, with each wallet’s public address. The ATO’s own guidance treats addresses as records. Then keep a separate running list for each crypto asset. What Is a Crypto Wallet? explains how platform accounts and self-custody wallets differ.

Already past day one? Start now. The law requires you to reconstruct necessary records that don’t exist, and the ATO’s advice is to gather as many details as you can, as soon as you can. Platform exports, saved confirmations and a blockchain explorer can help.

Step 2: Record each transaction

For each transaction, cover the ATO’s items above, including any fees and the value in Australian dollars at the time, even for a crypto-to-crypto swap.

We also suggest these, to make your records easier to check:

  • the time zone you’ve used;
  • the quantities sent and received, as separate figures;
  • each fee on its own line, with the asset and quantity paid;
  • the account or wallet the crypto left and the one it arrived in;
  • where the Australian-dollar value came from, such as your platform’s price at that time;
  • a traceable reference, such as an order number or transaction ID.

Moving crypto between your own wallets

What it is: if you transfer crypto from one wallet to another and keep ownership of it, the ATO says that isn’t a disposal and doesn’t need to be reported.

What it doesn’t cover: if a fee paid in crypto reduces your holding during the transfer, the ATO says that fee is a disposal with CGT consequences. You still need to record the transfer.

A worked example (hypothetical)

Round numbers; no real crypto assets or platforms. Times are in AEST.

Entry 1: buy (3 August 2026, 10:15 AEST)

  • Other party: Platform X
  • Price: $1,000.00
  • Fee: $10.00, paid in Australian dollars
  • Total paid from your bank account: $1,010.00
  • Received: 0.5000 Coin A in your Platform X account ($2,000 per Coin A)
  • Evidence: order confirmation; bank statement line for $1,010.00

Entry 2: transfer to your own wallet (10 August 2026, 19:40 AEST)

  • Left Platform X: 0.5000 Coin A
  • Fee: 0.0020 Coin A, worth $4.20, paid in Coin A
  • Arrived in your wallet: 0.4980 Coin A, worth $1,045.80
  • Value source: Platform X’s price at the time, $2,100 per Coin A (screenshot saved)
  • Evidence: withdrawal record; transaction ID

Entry 3: swap (2 September 2026, 08:05 AEST)

  • Sent from your wallet: 0.2000 Coin A, worth $400.00
  • Fee: 0.0010 Coin A, worth $2.00, paid in Coin A
  • Received: 300 Coin B, worth $399.00
  • Other party: the swap service’s crypto address
  • Value source: Platform X’s prices at the time, $2,000 per Coin A and $1.33 per Coin B (screenshot saved)
  • Evidence: transaction ID

Check the balances. The $1,010.00 bank payment matches the price plus the fee. Platform X now holds no Coin A (0.5000 in, 0.5000 out). Your wallet holds 0.2970 Coin A (0.4980 in, then 0.2000 and 0.0010 out) and 300 Coin B.

This shows the records only; Crypto Taxes in Australia explains how gains and losses are worked out.

Step 3: Keep the evidence behind each entry

Keep the receipts and platform records the ATO lists, plus whatever each entry relies on, such as order confirmations, bank statement lines, transaction IDs and a copy of the price you used. A saved price shows where a figure came from; on its own, it may not settle the market value.

Step 4: Export and back up

The ATO suggests exporting your transaction history regularly in case you lose access to your account, setting a reminder to do it at least every three months, and exporting your complete history before you close an account.

What you can export, and in what form, varies between platforms and wallets, and an account’s own history may be incomplete or unavailable, so you may need other sources to fill gaps. To recreate lost records, the ATO suggests a blockchain explorer or the platform’s customer service.

We suggest opening each export to check it covers the dates you expect, and keeping copies in more than one place you control.

An export may omit transaction purposes, Australian-dollar values or activity elsewhere. Use it alongside your own record.

Software. The ATO suggests finding a reputable Australian crypto tax calculator, noting that free and low-cost services can sync your platform and wallet accounts. Software works from the data it’s given, so check its imports against your own record, especially own-wallet transfers and fees. We don’t recommend particular products here.

Step 5: Check your records are complete

Each time you export, ask:

  • Does every platform account and wallet you’ve used appear in your record?
  • Do the balances in your record match what each account and wallet actually holds?
  • For transfers between your own accounts or wallets, do the sent and received amounts reconcile, with each fee recorded in the asset used to pay it?
  • Does every entry have an Australian-dollar value and a note of where it came from?

If a crypto tax tool’s balances don’t match your platform’s, what to check when crypto tax software doesn’t match your exchange works through a real example, coin by coin.

What never goes in your records

What your records are for

Showing what you owned, when, and what it was worth. Public addresses and transaction IDs are fine to record.

What must never go in them

Your seed phrase (also called a recovery phrase), private keys, passwords or account recovery codes. Tax records may be shared with accountants or software. Screenshots of wallet secrets may sync to cloud storage.

Backing up your seed phrase safely is a separate job. Understanding Private Keys & Seed Phrases explains how.

The ATO’s list includes “digital wallet records and keys” without saying which keys it means. Its examples of evidence for a lost private key, listed below, include the public key and the wallet address, not the private key itself.

How long to keep your records

The law says CGT records must be kept until five years after it becomes certain that no CGT event (or no further CGT event) can happen that the records could be relevant to. In practice, that means keeping them for as long as you hold the crypto, then for at least five years after you sell, swap, spend or give it away. The ATO also says to keep records long enough to cover the amendment period (usually two or four years) for any assessment that uses them.

If you carry a capital loss forward, the ATO’s view is that you should keep the records for that loss at least until the later of the usual retention period and the end of the review period for the income year in which the loss is fully used, and until any dispute about it is finally settled.

Records must be in English, or readily accessible and convertible into English.

If you’ll hold crypto on 30 June 2027

As at 17 October 2026

Subject to the residency condition below, a law passed in June 2026 means that if you hold crypto through the end of 30 June 2027, you’re treated as selling it just before 1 July 2027 and acquiring it again just after, by default at its market value just before 1 July 2027.

As the law stands, this only applies if you haven’t been a foreign resident or temporary resident for tax purposes at any time from when you acquired the crypto until the later “realisation event” described below (time before 9 May 2012 doesn’t count). Current Australian residency alone doesn’t settle eligibility. A bill before Parliament would change how those cases are treated.

The rule doesn’t create a tax bill on the day. Any gain or loss is deferred until a realisation event happens to the crypto, such as selling, swapping, spending or giving it away, and is counted in that income year. The ATO says 2027–28 is generally the earliest tax return that could require the value, and only if a CGT event happens that year. So the value may be needed years later.

The ATO says it will publish guidance before 1 July 2027 on working out market value for certain types of assets, and on the documentation and records to keep. We suggest planning to note each crypto asset’s Australian-dollar value just before 1 July 2027 and where it came from, keeping any supporting evidence, and checking the ATO’s guidance once it’s out. That isn’t a valuation method, and a saved price alone may not settle the value.

Crypto Taxes in Australia explains the change in more detail.

Where records help beyond tax

Proving ownership. To claim a capital loss for lost or stolen crypto, the ATO says you need evidence of ownership. For a lost private key, its examples include the wallet address, the public key, the cost, the value when lost, and platform transactions linked to your verified identity.

Reporting a scam. Victoria Police’s ReportCyber guidance says to save evidence such as screenshots, emails and chat logs before it’s removed, store it securely, and include transaction details when you report. Avoiding Crypto Scams and Staying Safe lists what to note.

Related reading

Sources

Checked 17 October 2026.

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