CryptoPunks trader pleads guilty to $13m NFT tax fraud

A man from Pennsylvania pleaded guilty to federal accusations after omitting to report millions of profits from non -butt tokens.

In an April 11 press releaseThe United States Prosecutor’s Office for the Pennsylvania intermediate district said Waylon Wilcox, 45, admitted to having produced false income statements for 2021 and 2022, an under-declaration of more than $ 13 million in NFT transactions.

Most unsuccessful gains came from the purchase and sale of 97 pieces from the popular cryptopunks collection.

According to prosecutors, Wilcox produced a false declaration in April 2022, demanding much less income for 2021 than what he really did. This decision reduced its tax bill by more than $ 2.1 million. He did it again in October 2023 for the taxation year of 2022, dodging an additional $ 1.1 million in taxes.

In total, Wilcox underestimated around $ 8.5 million in 2021 and an additional $ 4.6 million in 2022. He falsely replied “no” when asked the two returns if he had exchanged digital assets.

Federal investigators allege that Wilcox won about $ 7.4 million by selling 62 cryptopunks in 2021 and an additional $ 4.9 million out of 35 Punk sales in 2022.

The case was the subject of an investigation by the internal income from Service and its criminal investigation division. According to the press release, taxpayers should declare gains or losses related to NFT sales as part of their taxable income.

“In today’s economic environment, it is more important than ever that the American people are convinced that everyone plays according to the rules and pays the taxes they owe,” added Yury Kruty from Philadelphia Field Office.

Wilcox could incur maximum sentence of up to six years in prison, as well as supervised release and possible fines. A judge will determine his last penalty in accordance with federal laws and directives of determining sentence.

NFT sales diving

Wilcox’s case arrives at a time when the NFT market is already under pressure, with sliding weekly sales volumes. As before reported By Crypto.News, the NFT sales volume fell 4.7% last week to $ 94.7 million, extending the slowdown of $ 102.8 million in the previous week.

The activity also dropped, Buyers and NFT sellers lowering more than 75% each, and the volume of negotiation of the first quarter of 24% compared to the previous quarter, according to Dappradar.

Even high -level collections like cryptopunks feel tension. Last week, cryptopunk # 3100, one of the nine extraterrestrial punks, was Sold at a loss of $ 10 million. At the time, the collection price of the collection dropped by 67% since its peak of 2021.