A CryptoPunks NFT Trader Indicted For +$13M Tax Fraud

The USA Legal professional has discovered Waylon Wilcox, a crypto and non-fungible token investor, responsible of submitting false earnings tax returns. In the course of the annual particular person earnings tax return, the NFT dealer intentionally omitted $13 million in earnings from his CryptoPunks NFT gross sales. Primarily based on the USA tax legal guidelines, the CryptoPunks NFT dealer attracts as much as six years of imprisonment and a tremendous.

NFT Dealer Charged Over $13M Tax Fraud

In an April 11 press launch, the USA Legal professional’s Workplace, Center District of Pennsylvania, confirmed that it has discovered Waylon Wilcox, a 45-year-old NFT dealer from Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, responsible of submitting false earnings tax returns. Primarily based on the cost sheet introduced in courtroom on April 12, 2022, Wilcox filed particular person earnings tax returns for 2021 and intentionally omitted $2 million from his turnover.

April eleventh, 2025, Waylon Wilcox of Dillsburg, Pennsylvania, United States, plead responsible to 2 (2) counts of submitting false particular person earnings tax returns to the USA Inside Income Service.

Mr. Wilcox lied to the USA Inside Income Service relating to his… pic.twitter.com/JVkKMSXbaH

— vx-underground (@vxunderground) April 13, 2025

In 2022, Wilcox filed his annual earnings tax returns by roughly $4,599,532 and lowered his tax once more by roughly $1,098,623. Wilcox obtained most of this unreported earnings after buying and promoting 97 items of CryptoPunks. In 2021, Wilcox offered roughly 62 Punks for a complete of $7,402,935. In 2022, Wilcox offered roughly 35 CryptoPunks NFTs for a complete of roughly $4,899,180.

Launched in 2017, CryptoPunks is a non-fungible token assortment that includes a restricted provide of 10,000 distinctive, 24×24 pixel artwork characters saved on the Ethereum blockchain. Punks NFTs have grown in reputation, turning into an emblem of digital artwork and collectability. Every CryptoPunk NFT is exclusive, with randomly generated attributes like clothes, equipment, and hairstyles. Punks have been initially created by the digital asset agency Larva Labs however at the moment are managed by the digital asset agency Yuga Labs.

NFT Dealer “Wilcox” Faces 6-12 months Jail Time period

Primarily based on United States tax legal guidelines, when a taxpayer sells an NFT, together with a CryptoPunk, they have to report gross sales proceeds and any good points or losses from the sale of the NFT on their tax return. In his annual tax returns submitting, Wilcox falsely answered “no” to the query “At any time throughout 2022, did you: (a) obtain (as a reward, award or cost for property or companies); or (b) promote, change, reward or eliminate a digital asset (or a monetary curiosity in a digital asset)?” This deliberate motion has attracted a six-year jail time period.

The Wilcox tax fraud case was investigated by the Inside Income Service, Prison Investigation. The Assistant U.S. Legal professional David C. Williams prosecuted the case. The NFT dealer Wilcox joins a quickly rising listing of crypto and NFT buyers who’ve been indicated over crypto fraud, together with the previous FTX CEX boss, Sam Bankman Fried. Whereas commenting in regards to the case, Yury Kruty, the Philadelphian Subject Workplace Particular Agent in Cost, remarked:

“IRS Prison Investigation is dedicated to unraveling advanced monetary schemes involving digital currencies and non-fungible token (NFT) transactions designed to hide taxable earnings. In right now’s financial surroundings, it’s extra necessary than ever that the American folks really feel assured that everybody is enjoying by the principles and paying the taxes they owe.”