Crypto in 2026: Lots of Noise, Still Not Enough Clarity
If you thought that over time, the rules of the game around cryptocurrencies would finally become clear, here’s a cold splash of reality served in two parts. On one hand, the SEC — the American financial markets watchdog — continues to publish guidance on the crypto sector that raises as many questions as it resolves. On the other, a joint study by Coinbase and CoinTracker reveals that the vast majority of crypto holders still don’t properly understand when and how their digital assets are taxable. Welcome to the era of crypto maturity… in theory.
The SEC Speaks Up, But (Still) Says Too Little
The latest guidance published by the Securities and Exchange Commission on cryptocurrencies was received with modest enthusiasm by industry professionals. And for good reason: while the American regulator did attempt to clarify its position on certain aspects of digital assets, many gray areas remain.
Concretely, industry players were expecting straightforward answers to fundamental questions: which tokens are considered securities subject to stock market regulations? Which platforms need to register, and under what status? These are subjects on which the SEC’s text remains, according to observers, frustratingly vague.
This lack of precision is not trivial. For companies operating in the blockchain ecosystem, regulatory uncertainty represents a real brake on development: it’s difficult to invest, hire, or launch new products when you don’t know if tomorrow you might face legal action from the regulator. The SEC seems to want to send signals of openness, but without committing to truly binding and actionable guidelines. It’s a bit like promising a recipe without giving the quantities.
Users and Taxes: A Persistent Misunderstanding
While regulators hem and haw, ordinary users face another type of confusion — but potentially more costly. The survey conducted by Coinbase and tax tracking tool CoinTracker paints a concerning picture: fewer than half of the respondents who own cryptocurrencies correctly know how to identify events that trigger a tax obligation.
As a reminder — and this is where many people get caught off guard — in most Western countries, including the United States and France, simply holding crypto is generally not taxable. What is taxable, however, is realizing a capital gain: selling your bitcoins for euros or dollars, exchanging one cryptocurrency for another, or using crypto to pay for goods or services are all operations likely to trigger a taxable event.
Yet according to the study, many users wrongly believe that only conversion to traditional currency is taxable, unaware that exchanges between cryptos themselves can also be. Others, conversely, overestimate their obligations and think they’re taxable as soon as they receive crypto in their wallet. The tax reality, as often happens, lies somewhere between the two extremes — and it varies by jurisdiction.
Two Problems, One Root Cause
What stands out in the conjunction of these two pieces of information is that they point toward a common problem: the absence of a clear and educational framework around cryptocurrencies, whether from regulators or user education.
By not sufficiently clarifying its rules, the SEC leaves professionals in a state of uncertainty. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens, lacking simple and accessible communication from tax authorities or exchange platforms, continue to fly blind when filling out their tax returns. The result? A sector struggling to fully professionalize and taxpayers who risk, through ignorance, finding themselves in violation without meaning to.
It’s worth noting that it’s Coinbase, one of the world’s largest exchange platforms, that’s funding this type of study. The move may seem self-interested — and it probably is in part, since better tax education pushes users to use tracking tools like CoinTracker — but it responds to a real need.
Perspective
Crypto is no longer a niche technology reserved for code enthusiasts and libertarian idealists. Millions of people worldwide now hold digital assets, and they deserve clear rules of the game, both from regulators and their own governments. The publication of vague guidance by the SEC and the persistence of massive tax confusion among users remind us that regulatory and educational maturity in the sector still lags significantly behind its adoption.
The path toward a crypto ecosystem that’s legible and secure for everyone inevitably passes through greater institutional transparency and more educational efforts. Two things that neither markets, nor algorithms, nor NFTs can replace.
