Live method-gap board for FIFO, LIFO, and Specific ID — so the same sale never pretends there is only one bill.
Educational US max-rate sketch. Method ≠ bill. Not Form 8949, CPA, or filing advice.
By Ahmet C. Toplutaş·Site owner & editor · Blockchain tools
Last updated May 21, 2026 · Reviewed May 21, 2026 · Planning estimates only - not tax, medical, or investment advice
01
A crypto sale has one set of proceeds. It does not have one automatic bill. Cost basis depends on which purchase lots the accounting method assigns to the disposition — FIFO, LIFO, or Specific ID. Same units sold, different matched basis, different gain, different tax sketch.
This page’s framing is Method ≠ bill. The panel still shows proceeds, basis, and estimated tax for the active method, then refuses to hide how far that sketch sits from a FIFO baseline.
That is a different job from crypto P/L (Mark ≠ basis for bag performance) and portfolio rebalancing (Drift ≠ ticket for policy weights). Here we stay on lot-matching literacy for a single disposition.
Decision framing: “Which lots am I really disposing?” — not only “What is my gain at this price?”
02
The unique affordance is the method-gap board: three live columns for FIFO, LIFO, and Specific ID on the same sale and lot book. Each column shows sketched tax and gain; the hero delta is Δ tax versus FIFO for the method you have selected.
That is not a habit-error rail, not a cooling-curve scrubber, not a $/mi parity strip, and not a rebalance blotter. It is an accounting-method compare for one disposition.
Scene presets (rising book, ST+LT mix, Spec-ID pick, underwater lot) load books where the method gap is visible — flip only the method chips and watch the bill move while sale price stays fixed.
03
Holding period attaches to the matched lot, not to “how long you have been in crypto.” This sketch treats a lot as long-term when the sale date is more than one year after the acquire date (sale after the one-year anniversary). A FIFO sale that spans old and new lots can mint both ST and LT slices in one disposition.
When a matched slice is still short-term, a thin cliff chip shows how many days remain until that lot would flip long if you waited — calendar literacy, not a filing clock.
Method ≠ bill and ST ≠ LT travel together: LIFO can pull a recent high-basis lot that is still short-term while FIFO pulls an older low-basis long-term lot.
04
Estimated tax here applies illustrative US federal maximum capital-gains rates — about 37% on positive short-term gains and 20% on positive long-term gains. Losses are not netted across buckets in this sketch; brackets, NIIT, state tax, and ordinary-income stacking are ignored on purpose so the method gap stays readable.
For how marginal rates behave on wage income (a different framing — Marginal ≠ effective), use the income tax calculator. Do not paste this crypto sketch into a return.
05
US filers often report crypto dispositions on Form 8949 (and Schedule D). The form cares about description, acquire date, sale date, proceeds, basis, and gain or loss — which is why Method ≠ bill matters before you ever open software. Specific identification requires records that support which lot you designated; FIFO is the common default narrative when identification is unclear.
This page teaches the matching story. It does not generate a Form 8949, apply wash-sale rules, or sync exchange CSVs. Broker 1099-DA / cost-basis reporting may still disagree with your lot book — reconcile with a CPA or full crypto tax product.
06
Scenario A — Rising book. Load the rising-book preset. FIFO pulls older cheaper basis first; LIFO pulls newer expensive basis. Sale price is identical — watch Δ tax vs FIFO flip when you switch methods. That is Method ≠ bill in one click.
Keep sale units and price fixed. Change only FIFO → LIFO → Spec-ID and read the board.
Scenario B — ST + LT mix. A book with an older lot and a recent lot can produce mixed holding labels under FIFO. LIFO may concentrate the recent ST slice. The cliff chip on ST matches shows how close a wait would be to LT treatment — still educational, still not advice.
Scenario C — Spec-ID pick. Select the highest-basis lot for a one-unit sale. Gain (and sketched tax) should fall versus FIFO if FIFO would have grabbed a cheap early lot. Specific ID is not free: your venue and records must support the designation.
Scenario D — Underwater lot. Specifying a high-basis lot can sketch a loss while FIFO still sketches a gain — or the reverse. Method ≠ bill is about which narrative your records support, not about inventing basis.
07
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Share links snapshot method, sale, and lots. Live typing never rewrites the address bar.
09
Stop here for Method ≠ bill literacy: same sale, different matching, visible tax gap. Hand off for bag performance, buy schedules, on-chain fees, or full income-tax brackets.
10
Proceeds from a sale can be the same while the cost basis changes with the lot-matching method (FIFO, LIFO, or Specific ID). Mark-to-market P/L is not the same as the tax sketch. The method-gap board shows how the estimated tax bill moves versus a FIFO baseline.
No. It is an educational US-oriented sketch using simplified maximum federal capital-gains rates (illustrative short-term 37% / long-term 20%). It ignores brackets, NIIT, state tax, wash-sale rules, and Form 8949 detail. Use a CPA or full crypto tax software for filing.
A matched lot is treated as long-term if the sale date is more than one year after the acquire date (sale after the one-year anniversary). Mixed sales can produce both short- and long-term slices; tax is sketched on positive gains in each bucket.
Specific identification lets you designate which lot is sold when records support it. This panel picks one lot for the full sale amount (that lot must hold enough units). Real brokers may require contemporaneous identification rules — check your venue and advisor.
FIFO is the common default mental model. Method ≠ bill is clearest when you see LIFO or Spec-ID as a delta versus that baseline — not as a second unrelated calculator.
Crypto P/L owns Mark ≠ basis for bag performance. This page owns Method ≠ bill for disposition matching and a tax sketch. Use P/L to understand the bag; use tax to see how method choice reshapes the bill.
Often yes (buy fees into basis, sell fees reduce proceeds). This sketch ignores fees so method effects stay visible. Add fee drag separately or in full tax software.
LIVE METHOD-GAP · METHOD ≠ BILL
Method ≠ bill ↓Scene presets
Lot-matching method
Lot book
METHOD-GAP BOARD · VS FIFO
Δ tax $0
MATCHED SLICES · FIFO
LTlot-0 · 2023-01-15
0.800000 u · basis $16,000 · held 1263d
+$36,000
Updates as you type. Share writes the URL; typing does not. Educational US max-rate sketch — not Form 8949, CPA, or filing software.
Method gap vs FIFO
$0
FIFO: gain +$36,000 · tax $7,200
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