A man in Pennsylvania found guilty of federal charges after he failed to report millions of profit by acting non-favorite tokens.
In a April 11th press releaseThe office of the American lawyers for the Middle district of Pennsylvania said that Waylon Wilcox, 45, has admitted that he submitted false tax returns before 2021 and 2022, which suppresses more than $ 13 million in income from NFT transactions.
Most non -reported profits came from buying and selling 97 pieces from the popular cryptopunks collection.
According to public prosecutors, Wilcox submitted a false return in April 2022, with a considerably less income for 2021 than he actually made. The relocation has reduced its tax assessment by more than $ 2.1 million. He did it again in October 2023 for the tax year 2022, in which he avoided another $ 1.1 million in taxes.
In total, Wilcox suppressed around $ 8.5 million in 2021 and another $ 4.6 million in 2022. He wrongly answered “no” when he was asked on both returns if he had traded digital assets.
Federal researchers claim that Wilcox earned around $ 7.4 million by selling 62 cryptopunks in 2021 and another $ 4.9 million of 35 punk sales in 2022.
The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service and its Criminal Investigation division. According to the release, taxpayers are expected to report profit or losses of the NFT sales as part of their taxable income.
“In today’s economic environment, it is more important than ever that the American people are convinced that everyone plays according to the rules and pays the taxes that they owe,” added Philadelphia Field Office Special Agent in the Leading Yury Kruty.
Wilcox could get a maximum fine of a maximum of six years in prison, together with guided release and possible fines. A judge will determine his last punishment in accordance with the articles of association and guidelines of the federal conviction.
NFT Sales Dang
The Wilcox case comes at a time when the NFT market is already under pressure, with weekly sales volumes slipping. As previously reported by crypto.news, last week fell by $ 94.7 million NFT sales volume by 4.7%, which extended the recession of $ 102.8 million the week before.
Activity has also been fooled, with NFT buyers and sellers each falling more than 75%, and Q1 2025 Trade volume fall by 24% compared to the previous quarter, according to Dapradar.
Even top collections such as cryptopunks feel the tension. Last week Cryptopunk #3100, one of only nine alien punks, was sold with a loss of $ 10 million. At the time, the floor price of the collection had fallen by 67% since the 2021 peak.
