If you receive cryptocurrency through an airdrop, staking or mining, you have to report the FMV of the crypto received as income. Did you know the FMV reported as income sets the cost basis of the new crypto received? Why does cost basis matter? You have to pay capital gains on the disposition of crypto. If you sell your crypto for dollars, exchange it for another crypto, or use it for payment of goods or services, you will have to pay capital gains on the disposition of your crypto. How can you determine the FMV of your crypto, if you didn't keep records? You can use historical price data from reliable crypto tracking and market aggregation websites. The FMV is defined by the price at which the crypto would sell on the open market at that particular time. Popular sites include CoinMarketCap, CoinGecko, CoinDesk Data and crypto exchanges. If you receive crypto directly on a centralized exchange, the easiest way to determine FMV is to use the price provided by that exchange at the specific moment of the transaction. You will need the following: 1. crypto received 2. exact date and time crypto was received 3. value of the crypto received in US dollars at that precise moment. 4. Amount of crypto received If you have not yet determined cost basis of your crypto received, you should start as soon as possible. New regulations will make it more difficult to assign cost basis of any crypto sold.