Swiss Crypto Tax Rules: What You Must Know in 2025

When it comes to Swiss crypto tax rules, the official framework for taxing cryptocurrency holdings, trades, and mining income in Switzerland. Also known as crypto taxation in Switzerland, it’s one of the most transparent systems in the world—yet many still get it wrong because they assume it’s tax-free. Switzerland doesn’t treat crypto like cash, but it also doesn’t treat it like stocks. It’s its own category, and how you’re taxed depends entirely on whether you’re a private investor, a trader, or a miner.

For most people, buying and holding Bitcoin or Ethereum isn’t taxed until you sell or trade it. If you turn $1,000 of ETH into USDT and then cash out to CHF, that’s a taxable event. The gain is treated as capital income, not as ordinary income. But here’s the catch: if you trade crypto for crypto—say, BTC to SOL—that’s also a taxable event, even if you never touched Swiss francs. The Swiss Federal Tax Administration (SFTA) sees every swap as a sale of one asset and a purchase of another. And if you mine crypto? That’s considered a business activity. You report the fair market value of the coins when they’re mined as income, and you can deduct mining costs like electricity and hardware.

Switzerland’s crypto regulations, the legal framework governing cryptocurrency use, reporting, and compliance in Switzerland. Also known as Swiss crypto laws, it doesn’t have a national crypto exchange license like Germany or France. Instead, each canton sets its own rules for personal taxes. Zurich, Geneva, and Zug all have different thresholds and rates. In Zug, for example, private investors often pay close to 0% on long-term holdings if they don’t trade frequently. In Geneva, you might pay up to 15% on gains if you trade more than three times a year. And if you’re a professional trader? You’re taxed like a small business—no special treatment.

Staking rewards? Taxed as income when you receive them. Airdrops? Also income, valued at the market price on the day you get them. Even if you don’t sell, you owe tax. And if you lose coins to a hack or scam? You can’t write that off. Switzerland doesn’t allow capital losses on crypto like the U.S. does. That means if you bought ETH at $4,000 and it dropped to $1,500, you’re stuck with that loss unless you sold it before the drop.

What you do need to report: all wallet addresses you control, every trade (on-chain or off), mining payouts, and any income from DeFi protocols. The Swiss government uses blockchain analytics tools to cross-check data, and they’ve started sharing info with other EU countries under the OECD’s Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework. Ignoring this isn’t an option anymore.

Below, you’ll find real cases from people who got hit with surprise tax bills—some because they didn’t know staking was taxable, others because they thought using a Swiss exchange meant they were exempt. You’ll also see how miners in the Alps are legally reducing their burden, and what to do if you’ve held crypto since 2017 and never filed. This isn’t theoretical. These are the exact rules that have led to audits, penalties, and even criminal charges for those who thought Switzerland was a crypto tax haven.