In Chief Couns. Memo. 202302012 (Jan. 13, 2022), the IRS Office of Chief Counsel stated that a charitable contribution of cryptocurrency must be treated like personal property other than cash or publicly traded securities, and that a charitable contribution of cryptocurrency valued at more than $5,000 must be supported by a qualified appraisal reported in an appraisal summary. The IRS stated that the value cannot be based solely on exchange-reported values in lieu of a qualified appraisal, and that reasonable cause will not excuse noncompliance. (Code Sec. 170(f)(11)(A)(ii)(II)) (See also S.4356, § 206(a)(4), 107th Cong., 2d Sess. (June 7, 2022), the “Lummis-Gillibrand Responsible Financial Innovation Act,” which would have forced the IRS to exempt cryptocurrency from the qualified appraisal requirement.)

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