American Man Faces Prison Time For Not Disclosing $13m Of Crypto Punks NFT Sales

A US man from Pennsylvania is dealing with as much as six years in jail after pleading responsible to submitting false tax returns to the Inland Income Service (IRS) that hid tens of millions of {dollars} in earnings from gross sales of Crypto Punks NFTs.

In federal courtroom on April 9, Waylon Wilcox, 45, admitted to underreporting over $13 million in earnings from 97 Crypto Punks transactions between 2021 and 2022.

GUY MADE $13M FLIPPING PIXELATED NFTS—TOLD THE IRS “LOL, NEVER HEARD OF CRYPTO”

Waylon Wilcox, 45, of Pennsylvania, pleaded responsible to hiding over $13 million in earnings from flipping 97 CryptoPunks NFTs—reporting nothing to the IRS in 2021 and 2022.

However when tax time got here?… pic.twitter.com/RJACf8z6IU

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 12, 2025

Wilcox Was A Punks Whale Who Bought 62 NFTs At Their Peak

Wilcox lowered his tax invoice by underreporting greater than $13m in Crypto Punks gross sales by over $3.2 million, in accordance with the US Legal professional’s Office for the Center District of Pennsylvania.

In keeping with courtroom filings, Wilcox bought 62 Punks in 2021 for $7.4 million. The Pennsylvania man then bought 35 extra in 2022 for round $4.9 million.

Prosecutors say the misrepresentations allowed him to dodge $2.18 million in taxes in 2021 and $1.09 million in 2022. Nevertheless, Wilcox allegedly checked the’ no’ field when requested on his 2021 and 2022 tax returns whether or not he had disposed of any digital belongings.

Per the press launch, prosecutors state the misrepresentations allowed him to dodge $2.18 million in taxes in 2021 and $1.09 million in 2022.

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“IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to unraveling complex financial schemes involving virtual currencies and non-fungible token transactions designed to conceal taxable income,” Yury Kruty, Philadelphia Subject Office Particular Agent in Cost, mentioned within the press launch.

They added, “In today’s economic environment, it’s more important than ever that the American people feel confident that everyone is playing by the rules and paying the taxes they owe.”

The Pennsylvania Legal professional’s Office warned that when a person sells an NFT, they have to report gross sales proceeds and any positive factors or losses from the asset’s sale on their tax return.

Wilcox faces a penalty of as much as six years in jail for the costs in opposition to him. He will even probably face a time period of supervised launch and a tremendous below federal legislation.

Crypto Punks Down Over 85% From The Prime As Wilcox Bought The Prime

(COINGECKO)

Though he faces jail time and a hefty tremendous, Waylon Wilcox bought his Crypto Punks throughout their peak throughout 2021 and 2022.

At the moment they’ve a ground value of 42.49 ETH (round $69,000), at their peak in August 2021, the ground value was 125 ETH (price virtually $479,000 on the time), per CoinGecko.

In ETH phrases, Punks are down 66% from the highest. Nevertheless, in opposition to USD, the gathering is down 85.7% from that all-time excessive. Simply final week, a CryptoPunks holder bought their super-rare alien Punk for $6 million, taking a $10 million (500 ETH) loss on the commerce.

CryptoPunks are an NFT assortment of 10,000 algorithmically generated pixel characters. They maintain status as a result of they’re one of many earliest collections to launch.

Punks had been among the many most sought-after collections through the NFT craze in 2021 and 2022. Throughout that point, buying and selling quantity for NFTs reached as excessive as $2.4 billion day by day.

Nevertheless, the quantity has dried up, barring just a few spikes amid frenzied durations. Per CoinGecko, general gross sales up to now 24 hours is simply $4.9 million.

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