Last updated: March 2026
This article is general information about UK tax rules, as we understand them on the date shown. It is not advice on your circumstances. Tax rules depend on your own facts and can change, so please speak to a tax professional before acting on it.
Losing the public or private keys to a wallet containing your cryptoassets cannot be treated as a disposal for capital gains tax purposes.
However, if you can show that there is no prospect of recovering the cryptoassets, you can file a negligible value claim in the Self Assessment Tax Return to claim the loss for these cryptoassets. This loss can be used to reduce gains in the same tax year or be carried forwards to reduce future capital gains.
Need to sort out your crypto taxes? Use Recap, the privacy focused cryptocurrency accounting software to calculate the taxable gain or loss on your cryptocurrency investments!