Recently, two major pieces of news have been hitting hard: on one side, Europe is increasing taxation, while on the other side, Wall Street is officially starting to accept cryptocurrencies. Although these seem like two separate events, they actually reflect the same trend—the acceleration of the crypto market’s compliance process.

Italy’s tax adjustments best illustrate this point. Starting in 2026, the profit tax rate on digital asset transactions will jump from 26% directly to 33%, and the €200 tax exemption threshold will be completely abolished. If you act before the end of November 2025, you can still reset your cost basis at a 14% tax rate; this window is only open for a limited time. Once the deadline passes, there will be no such opportunity again.

At the same time, US banks have announced they will offer BTC and ETH trading services to institutional clients. This appears to be a major breakthrough, but in reality, it’s aimed at big players like hedge funds, not retail investors. What is the deeper significance of this signal? The compliance channels for large funds are being officially established. From the EU’s MiCA regulatory framework to Wall Street’s institutional entry, a clear trend has emerged—the era of unregulated growth is coming to an end.

What does this mean? First, the compliance framework will become increasingly完善, and the space to evade regulation will shrink. Second, tax mechanisms worldwide will continue to tighten; Italy’s current 33% tax rate may serve as a reference for other regions next year. Finally, the treatment gap between institutions and retail investors will widen further—large funds have access to professional OTC channels and tax planning strategies, while retail investors can only operate on exchanges and must bear heavier tax burdens.

In the face of this situation, what practical steps should you take? First, record every transaction carefully, as future audits will become more stringent. Second, proactively understand the tax rules in your region—don’t wait until the tax bill arrives. Third, observe the movements of large funds, as their choice of compliant assets is often worth noting.

From a certain perspective, the arrival of regulation is both a constraint and a protection for the market. But for retail investors, devising a strategy during this transitional period is especially crucial.