Updated October 17, 2026. Quick answer: Box 11 of Form 1099-DA flags an optional reporting method for qualifying stablecoins and specified NFTs. Box 11a says which kind of asset, box 11b gives the number of transactions, and box 11c shows gross proceeds from the first sale of NFTs you created or minted. When it is used, box 1f is a yearly total and several other boxes may be blank.
What box 11 reports
Boxes 11a, 11b and 11c are a group. They matter only when the broker uses an optional method for two kinds of digital assets, and the recipient instructions describe each box in turn.
| Box | 2025 recipient instructions |
|---|---|
| Box 11a | “If checked, the digital assets sold were qualifying stablecoins or specified non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the information reported in box 1f represents the aggregate gross proceeds from those sales for the year.” |
| Box 11b | “Shows the number of transactions if the information reported on this form represents more than one transaction.” |
| Box 11c | “Shows the gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted.” |
The full layout of the form is in the Form 1099-DA boxes guide.
Which assets: qualifying stablecoins and specified NFTs
The broker instructions define both terms. A digital asset is a qualifying stablecoin if “The digital asset is designed to track on a one-to-one basis a single convertible currency issued by a government or central bank” and also “The digital asset uses an effective stabilization mechanism.” and “The digital asset is generally accepted as payment by persons other than the issuer.” The instructions introduce the list with the words “A digital asset is a qualifying stablecoin if it meets three conditions:”
For NFTs the test is shorter: “A digital asset is a specified NFT if the digital asset is indivisible, unique, and does not” “indirectly) provide the holder with an interest in certain excluded property.” Sales that do not fit these definitions are not reported this way. A swap of one token for another is a different topic; see swapping one crypto for another for that, and for where a reported sale lands, see Form 8949 and Schedule D.
Box 11a and the yearly aggregate
Box 11a is a pair of checkboxes labelled for qualifying stablecoins and specified NFTs. The broker is told: “If you check “Qualifying stablecoins,” you must complete box 11b.” “If you do not check one of these boxes, you do not have to complete boxes 11b or 11c.”
The broker instructions then describe the method: “A broker reporting sales of qualifying stablecoins using the optional reporting method for qualifying stablecoins may report a customer’s aggregate designated sales for each type of qualifying stablecoin on one Form 1099-DA.” They add that “A broker reporting sales using an optional method is not required to report acquisition dates or basis amounts, even if the digital assets are covered securities.”
Box 11b: number of transactions
The broker instruction is simple: “enter the number of transactions reported on this form.”
Box 11c: first sales by a creator or minter
Box 11c is for people who created or minted an NFT. The recipient instructions say it “Shows the gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted.” Box 1f carries the rest, and the instructions keep them apart: box 1f “does not include the gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted, which are reported in box 11c.”
The broker side shows how the two interact. “enter the total gross proceeds from these first sales in box 11c and leave box 1f blank.” And where both kinds of sales exist, the broker “is required to file two Forms 1099-DA if it is reporting gross proceeds attributable to first sales by a creator or minter and gross proceeds attributable to specified NFT sales that are not first sales.”
Boxes that may be blank under the optional method
The recipient note for this method lists the affected boxes. The broker instructions say: “A broker reporting sales of specified NFTs using the optional reporting method of specified NFTs may leave boxes 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12a, and 12b blank.” The same list is given for stablecoins: “A broker reporting sales of qualifying stablecoins using the optional reporting method for qualifying stablecoins may leave boxes 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12a, and 12b blank.” Among those boxes are the basis checkbox and the noncovered checkbox covered on the page for boxes 2 and 9, the gain type in box 6, and the market discount and wash sale boxes on the page for boxes 1h and 1i. The broker is told “Do not check this box if you are reporting sales of qualifying stablecoins or specified NFTs using an optional reporting method.” in the instructions for both of those checkboxes.
Edition and box numbers
The primary read for this page is the 2025 edition of Form 1099-DA with its Instructions for Recipient, which is the form sent in early 2026 for tax year 2025, together with the 2025 Instructions for Form 1099-DA that the broker follows. The 2026 edition was the one irs.gov served as current on 2026-10-17, so both were read and compared.
The 2026 edition changes the wording around box 11. Its recipient instructions open with a new note: “Boxes 1d, 1e, 1g, 1h, 1i, 2, 3a, 3b, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12a, and 12b may be blank if the broker is reporting sales of qualifying stablecoins or specified NFTs using an optional reporting method.” The 2025 recipient instructions do not carry that note; the optional blank-box list appears only in the broker instructions. Box 11c also changed. The 2025 recipient text reads “Shows the gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted.” and the 2026 text reads “Shows the aggregate gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted.”. The form label for box 11c now reads “Aggregate gross proceeds of specified NFTs attributable to first sales by a creator or minter”. The broker instructions for box 11c add the same word, “enter the aggregate gross proceeds attributable to first sales by a creator or minter”.
Box numbers can stay the same while the wording around them moves, so check the tax year printed on the form you actually received before relying on any description here.
Common mistakes
- Reading box 1f as a single sale when box 11a is checked. The form says box 1f “represents the aggregate gross proceeds from those sales for the year.”
- Looking for first-sale NFT proceeds in box 1f. The instructions say box 1f “does not include the gross proceeds from the first sale of any specified NFTs you created or minted”.
- Expecting basis and dates on a form that uses the optional method. The broker instructions say it “is not required to report acquisition dates or basis amounts, even if the digital assets are covered securities.”
Related: swapping one crypto for another, Form 8949, and Schedule D.
Sources
- Form 1099-DA (2025) with Instructions for Recipient: IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Form 1099-DA (2026) with Instructions for Recipient: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1099da.pdf
- Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2025): IRS archived PDF (irs.gov)
- Instructions for Form 1099-DA (2026): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1099da.pdf
Read from the IRS documents linked above on October 17, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the account provider or the IRS is the right place to confirm anything consequential.