A Texas man, Frank Richard Ahlgren III, was sentenced to two years in prison for filing false tax returns that underreported capital gains from selling bitcoins worth millions. Between 2017 and 2019, Ahlgren failed to report over $4 million in bitcoin sales, leading to a tax loss of more than $1 million.
In 2017, Ahlgren sold 640 #bitcoins for $3.7 million and used the proceeds to purchase a Utah home, but he falsified his tax return by inflating the cost basis of his bitcoins. In 2018 and 2019, he sold additional bitcoins worth over $650,000 and didn’t report these sales at all. To conceal his transactions, Ahlgren moved bitcoins through multiple wallets, used in-person exchanges for cash, and employed "mixers"—tools designed to obscure transaction origins on the blockchain. He had previously blogged about mixers as a way to add anonymity to bitcoin transactions.
This case marks the first criminal tax evasion prosecution focused entirely on cryptocurrency. Ahlgren was also ordered to pay $1,095,031 in restitution and serve one year of supervised release. Authorities emphasized that cryptocurrency transactions are traceable and urged compliance to avoid severe penalties.
