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Cryptocurrency is treated as wealth for Zakat purposes by the scholars who have addressed it: if you own it, can access it and it has market value, it counts.
Cryptocurrency is treated as wealth for Zakat purposes by the scholars who have addressed it: if you own it, can access it and it has market value, it counts. The rate is the familiar 2.5%, payable once your total wealth reaches the nisab and a lunar year has passed.
Coins on an exchange and coins in your own wallet are treated the same way, because the question is ownership, not location. What matters is whether the coins are yours and accessible. Coins whose private keys are lost and cannot be recovered are a different case: many scholars say they are not counted until and unless access is regained, but this is an area where scholarly discussion is still developing, so ask a qualified scholar if a large amount is involved.
Rewards you have received and now own — staking rewards credited to your account, airdropped tokens you hold and can trade — count as wealth on your Zakat date, at their market value that day. Rewards that are still locked, unvested or unclaimed are a grey area: some scholars count them once they are credited, others only once you can actually use them. Record what is locked separately so you can apply your scholar's position consistently.
Crypto prices move fast, so the valuation date matters. Value every holding at the market price on your Zakat date, not at the price you bought it and not at an average. Convert the total into your own currency at that day's rate before applying 2.5%.
All prices and rates in this example are illustrative, not live rates.
A man holds 0.5 BTC valued at $60,000 per coin, giving $30,000, and 4 ETH valued at $2,500 each, giving $10,000. He has also received staking rewards worth $800 and an airdrop worth $300, both held and tradeable. His crypto wealth is $30,000 + $10,000 + $800 + $300 = $41,100. He owes $1,100 in debts due now, so his net figure is $40,000. That is above the nisab, so his Zakat is 2.5% × $40,000 = $1,000.
The two live differences for crypto are locked or unvested rewards, and coins with lost keys. Both are genuinely unsettled in scholarly discussion, which is why this guide states the mainstream treatment for ordinary holdings and directs edge cases to a qualified scholar rather than inventing a position.