Every time you buy ETH on Binance.us, you create a record that can matter years later, when you sell, swap or spend that ETH. Buying Ethereum with US dollars is not taxable on its own, but the price you paid (your cost basis) decides how much gain or loss you report when you eventually dispose of it.
This guide covers what to write down for each purchase, how to export your Binance.us history, which tax forms the platform issues, and how cost basis reporting is changing for 2026.
Note. This article is general information, not tax advice. Digital asset tax rules change often, so check the IRS digital assets page or a qualified tax professional for your own situation.
Why Records Matter When You Buy ETH on Binance.us
The IRS treats digital assets such as ETH as property. The Form 1040 digital asset question asks whether you received digital assets as a reward or payment, or sold, exchanged or otherwise disposed of them during the year.
Good to know. According to the IRS, if you only purchased digital assets with real currency and did not sell them, you can answer no to the Form 1040 digital asset question.
Your purchase records still matter, because a purchase is the first half of a transaction that finishes later. Events that typically need those details include:
- Selling ETH for US dollars
- Converting ETH into another crypto asset, such as a stablecoin or BTC
- Spending ETH on goods or services
- Sending ETH to someone else as payment
In each case you need to know what you paid, including fees, to work out your gain or loss. Without that number, you risk overstating the gain and overpaying tax.
What to Record for Every ETH Purchase
The IRS defines your basis as the amount you spent to acquire the virtual currency, including fees, commissions and other acquisition costs in US dollars (see IRS virtual currency FAQ, Q8). A simple log with the fields below covers most needs.
A Purchase Log You Can Copy
| Field | What to capture | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Date and time | Exact timestamp, with time zone | Sets your holding period (short term or long term) |
| Quantity of ETH | Full precision, for example 0.042871 ETH | Lets you match lots when you sell part of a position |
| Price per ETH | USD price at execution | Confirms the total you paid |
| Fee | Fee amount and the asset it was paid in | Added to your cost basis |
| Total cost in USD | Price times quantity, plus fees | Your cost basis for that lot |
| Pair and order type | For example ETH/USD, market or limit | Helps you match your log to exported history |
| Order or transaction ID | The ID shown in your Binance.us history | Proves the trade if questions come up |
| Source of funds | The balance or deposit that paid for the buy | Links bank records to crypto records |
Tip. Record the fee even when it looks tiny. Fees are part of your cost basis, and across dozens of recurring buys they add up to a real reduction in taxable gain.
How to Export Your Binance.us Transaction History
You do not have to copy every trade by hand. Binance.us lets you generate custom reports of your account activity, which you can keep as your master record or import into a spreadsheet or crypto tax software. According to the Binance.us Help Center, the web process works like this:
- Log in on the web and hover over your name in the top-right corner.
- Click Export Reports to open the Reports page.
- Choose the asset (ETH or all assets), the transaction type and the date range.
- Pick CSV or PDF as the file format.
- Click Generate Report, then download the file once it is ready.
In the mobile app, the same options sit under your profile icon, then Reports in the Account section. Tax forms downloaded in the app come as PDF only, so use the web version if you want CSV files.
Report Limits to Plan Around
- Each custom report covers at most 12 months, or the time your account has been active.
- You can generate up to 10 custom reports per account per month.
- A report can take up to 24 hours to generate.
- Setting the transaction type to All captures your complete history.
Warning. Because each report stops at 12 months, a long-term holder needs one export per year. Download each year’s file soon after the year ends and store it yourself, rather than counting on pulling old history later.
Custom Reports vs Tax Reports
Custom reports are raw transaction history. Tax reports are a separate section built to help with quarterly or annual tax calculations, and they only become available after the quarter or year ends. Keep both, since the custom CSV is your evidence and the tax report is a summary.
Tax Forms Binance.us Issues to ETH Buyers
Binance.us currently issues two IRS forms. Whether you receive either one depends on what you did during the year, not on how much ETH you bought.
| Detail | Form 1099-DA | Form 1099-MISC |
|---|---|---|
| What it reports | Sales, exchanges or spending of digital assets | Income from eligible activities, such as staking and referral rewards |
| Threshold | Issued regardless of amount | $600 or more ($2,000 for the 2026 tax year) |
| Triggered by buying ETH only | No | No |
| Applies to | Transactions from January 1, 2025 onward | Eligible income for the tax year |
| Where to find it | Export Reports, Tax Reports, Tax tab | Export Reports, Tax Reports, Tax tab |
Good to know. Binance.us states that users who only bought or held assets during the year will not receive a Form 1099-DA. Keep your purchase records anyway, because you will need them in the year you sell.
When the Forms Arrive and How to Download Them
Binance.us says its forms become available before mid-February of the following year. On the web, open Export Reports, select Tax Reports, go to the Tax tab, choose the form and year, then click Generate.
There is a limit of 6 tax report downloads per month, so save the PDF and CSV once and file them with your own records. If a form does not appear, the Help Center notes you may not have met the requirements for it.
Cost Basis on Your 1099-DA and Why It Can Be Missing
Form 1099-DA reporting is being phased in. For 2025 transactions, brokers had to report gross proceeds but not cost basis. Under IRS rules, brokers must also report basis on certain transactions from January 1, 2026, generally for digital assets acquired on or after that date in the same account.
So ETH you buy on Binance.us in 2026 and later sell there should carry basis on the form. Basis is commonly missing for ETH bought before 2026, ETH transferred in from another exchange or a self-custody wallet, and assets received as rewards or airdrops, because the broker has no record of what you originally paid.
Warning. A blank or zero basis on the form does not mean your basis is zero. The IRS says you must report all gains and losses whether or not you receive a Form 1099-DA, and calculate basis before you file. Filing with zero basis treats the whole sale amount as gain.
FIFO, Specific Identification and Wallet Tracking
When you sell part of your ETH, you need to know which purchase lot was sold. The IRS default is first in, first out (FIFO), where the earliest units count as sold first. You can instead specifically identify the units sold, as long as you can back up their basis with records.
Basis is also tracked wallet by wallet, or account by account, so ETH held on Binance.us is matched against purchases made in that same account, not against ETH you hold elsewhere.
Example (illustrative figures). You buy 0.5 ETH for a total of $1,500 including fees, then another 0.5 ETH for $2,000. Later you sell 0.5 ETH for $1,800. FIFO matches the sale to the first lot, a $300 gain. Specifically identifying the second lot instead shows a $200 loss. Only complete records make either calculation possible.
A Simple Record-Keeping Routine for ETH Buyers
The easiest records to keep are the ones you update in small steps. A routine like this takes a few minutes a month:
- After each purchase, add a line to your log with the fields from the table above.
- Once a month, generate a custom CSV report for ETH and compare it with your log.
- Whenever you send ETH out of Binance.us, note the date, amount, destination address and transaction hash, so the basis can follow the coins.
- After the year ends, download the full-year report and any tax forms, and store them in one dated folder.
- Before filing, reconcile your log, the CSV and any 1099-DA, and write down the reason for any difference.
Many buyers also connect their account to crypto tax software. Binance.us supports this through a tax API key you create in your account. Software saves time, but it still depends on complete data, so keep your own exports as a backup.
How Long to Keep Your Records
The IRS says records connected to property should be kept until the period of limitations expires for the year in which you dispose of the property. That period is generally 3 years after you file, and 6 years if you leave out income worth more than 25% of the gross income on your return.
Tip. Keep every ETH purchase record for as long as you hold the ETH, and then for at least 3 years after filing the return that reports its sale. Cloud storage plus one offline copy protects you if an account or device becomes unavailable.
Common Questions About Binance.us ETH Tax Records
Does Binance.us report my ETH purchases to the IRS?
Form 1099-DA covers sales, exchanges and spending, not purchases on their own. Once you sell or swap ETH, the proceeds are reported, and from 2026 basis can be included for purchases made in the same account.
Is moving ETH from Binance.us to my own wallet taxable?
No. The IRS says a transfer between wallets, addresses or accounts that all belong to you is a non-taxable event. Record the transfer anyway, because the original cost basis moves with the ETH.
What if my 1099-DA does not match my own records?
You report your transactions on Form 8949 using the correct figures and keep documentation that explains the difference. Reconcile the form against your full history rather than copying it as-is.
Do staking or referral rewards need separate records?
Yes. Rewards count as income when you receive them, so log the date and the USD value at that moment. That value also becomes the cost basis of the rewarded ETH when you later sell it.
What if I am missing records from earlier years?
Start with what you can still export. Custom reports cover up to 12 months each within your account’s active history, so generate one per year. Bank statements showing deposits can help rebuild missing purchases, and a tax professional can advise on larger gaps.