Europe’s Largest Economy Announces Tax Break For Bitcoin and Ethereum

Germany has decided on a drastic tax break for crypto investors in new guidance posted by the country’s federal finance ministry (BMF).

The BMF released a document Wednesday morning regarding the treatment of income tax on cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-related tokens.

The 24-page document covers a wide range of topics like the different types of mining, airdrops, staking, and more. What pops out the most though is an update to tax laws that will make Germany one of the most crypto-friendly places on earth, at least for long term investors.

While the country previously gave tax-free status to all crypto assets that were held for more than 10 years, the new update tweaks that rule to just one year.

The BMF’s guidance also clarifies that crypto assets that have been lent out or used by a third party for staking during the one year window will also qualify for tax-free selling.

While ruling out the older 10-year rule, Parliamentary State Secretary Katja Hessel said in a statement that the government’s stance on crypto tax was fluid, and that the state was already working on the release of a secondary guidance document.

"Of course, the publication of the guidance is not the end of our engagement with the topic, but an interim result,” said Hessel. “The rapid development of the 'crypto world' ensures that we do not run out of topics.”

Germany will join a list of other countries sought after by crypto investors for their lax taxes, including The Cayman Islands, El Salvador, Malaysia, Malta, Switzerland, and of course, Portugal, where there are no crypto taxes regardless of how long the assets are held.

Last month, Germany was deemed as “the most crypto-friendly” country in the world in a report from cryptocurrency insights firm CoinClub.

“Germany's number of Bitcoin nodes is second only to the USA, and its policy towards crypto taxation is progressive even when compared to other leading economies,” CoinClub said. “Germany's rise to the top is fueled by its unique institutional stance on crypto as a long-term investment for savers, something which most countries have yet to imitate.”