How to cash out your crypto safely: 5 top methods
Dec 8, 2025・5 min read
Whether you want to secure profits, diversify your portfolio, or pay off expenses, you’ll need to know how to convert crypto to cash. Fortunately, there have never been more ways to instantly withdraw crypto into fiat currencies. But each method has pros and cons, and will uniquely affect the way you track profits and manage taxes using a platform like CoinTracker.
In this article, we’ll explore how to cash out crypto using five popular methods. We’ll also explain what factors should influence your choice, so you’re in the best position to make an informed decision.
Factors to consider before cashing out crypto
Before you convert cryptocurrency into cash, you’ll need to select a cost-effective and secure transaction method. Here’s how to evaluate your choices.
Transaction fees
Not every crypto-to-fiat service has the same fee schedule, but all of them have additional costs. For example, centralized exchanges (CEXs) often charge maker-taker fees, commissions, and/or withdrawal fees. Some platforms also have unique convenience costs, and most blockchains charge gas fees for cross-network transfers.
Verification requirements
Many regulated trading platforms and fiat-to-crypto services collect know your customer (KYC) information before cashing out, so they can comply with anti-money laundering laws. These details often include your full name, home address, and phone number, plus a photo of a government-issued ID.
Tax considerations
Crypto tax policies vary, but many nations use capital gains and losses to calculate transactions that involve crypto-to-fiat conversions. Since crypto sales are often taxable events, you’ll need to keep detailed records, including dates and total profits or losses. The easiest way to ensure accuracy is to link all your exchange APIs and wallet addresses in a CoinTracker account, which will automatically calculate cost basis and compile transactions into IRS-compliant forms.
Market conditions
Although it’s impossible to choose the “perfect time” to cash out, you can set automatic take-profit orders to sell crypto at your preferred rates first. Monitoring the crypto market for trends and major events also helps you time sales to avoid volatility spikes and negative slippage.
2025
Crypto Tax
Guide is here
CoinTracker's definitive guide to Bitcoin & crypto taxes provides everything you need to know to file your 2024 crypto taxes accurately.
How to cash out crypto in 2026: 5 options
The way you sell crypto for fiat has a significant impact on the final profit. Let’s review five of the most common crypto-to-cash solutions, so you can find the best way to cash out crypto.
1. CEXs
CEXs are corporate-controlled exchanges that handle high trading volumes and must meet high regulatory standards. They typically offer a convenient, step-by-step process for cashing out of digital assets.
Each exchange is different, but here’s what that process might look like:
- Submit KYC information to create an account.
- Copy the crypto wallet address the CEX provides you for the relevant currency (e.g., a Bitcoin (BTC) address).
- Enter the exchange address in your wallet where the cryptocurrency is located and choose the “Send” option.
- After receiving the cryptocurrency on the CEX, sell it for an available fiat currency.
- Transfer the cash to a linked bank account.
In the United States, it generally takes between three and five business days to receive your cash via ACH, or one day with a wire transfer. You'll also need to pay exchange-specific fees.
Using a CEX offers accessibility and high liquidity. But you’ll need to forfeit some online privacy and entrust sensitive KYC details to a third party.
2. Over-the-counter (OTC) desks
OTC desks are great for crypto traders who want to set the terms of their sales. Although these services collect personal information, they don’t publish transaction details in order books. Instead, OTC trades happen directly between prescreened counterparties.
Signing up for an OTC desk typically involves contacting a brokerage like Kraken or Gemini, submitting ID details, and setting the parameters for your desired crypto transaction. Once the OTC desk finds a willing counterparty, it initiates the transaction between crypto and fiat.
OTC desks are the best way to cash out for individuals or institutions with large volumes of cryptocurrency. They provide discretion that helps you avoid attracting unwanted attention or triggering significant price reactions on the open market. But since OTC desks have high minimum requirements, they aren’t the most accessible option for smaller traders.
3. Debit cards
Paying with cryptocurrencies isn’t a common practice yet, but it’s becoming easier thanks to crypto debit cards. These link directly to CEX accounts and work similar to standard debit cards. You’ll simply load cryptocurrency onto the card and use it with any business that accepts the card’s issuer. When you make a purchase, the card handles conversion between crypto and fiat.
Debit cards offer convenience and cashback rewards, making them ideal for traders who intend to use crypto in daily life. However, there are often higher conversion and convenience fees that can cut into your profits, and these cards may be hard to acquire and use depending on your location.
4. Peer-to-peer (P2P) trades
Before the rise of CEXs and crypto debit cards, the primary way to swap between crypto and cash was to find someone willing to make a trade. Anyone who wants to trade P2P can still use sites like LocalCoinSwap.
Once two parties agree to transaction terms, the P2P platform holds crypto and cash in escrow and releases those funds when both parties fulfill their ends of the deal. In some cases, people arrange to meet in person to settle these transactions.
Traders concerned with anonymity and control over their assets tend to gravitate toward P2P platforms. Aside from the escrow holding service, there’s no counterparty interference, and you’re not usually required to share KYC information. Still, the heightened privacy of P2P trades increases the risk of scams and other fraudulent activities.
5. BTC ATMs
Now that there are roughly 39,000 units worldwide, it’s getting easier to find physical BTC ATMs in many countries. These machines work like their banking counterparts, but they let users buy and (in some cases) sell crypto on a touchscreen display.
To complete a transaction, you usually have to enter KYC details, select the cryptocurrency you want to exchange, and agree to fees. If the ATM allows withdrawals, it’ll deliver the cash.
BTC ATMs offer convenience and immediate payouts, but tend to carry the highest fees. Also, many only allow you to cash out Bitcoin and one or two altcoins.
Is cashing out crypto a taxable event?
Although each nation has different rules, most treat crypto-to-fiat sales as taxable events. In these cases, authorities such as the IRS consider whether you made a profit or lost money, and either tax your capital gains or deduct your capital losses. In the U.S., investors who hold crypto for one year or more qualify for long-term capital gains taxes, while those who trade more frequently have to pay short-term capital gains.
Since these calculations can become complicated, especially when you have multiple purchases and sales throughout the year, it’s crucial to have reliable crypto tax software that monitors every detail. CoinTracker links to all your exchange APIs and crypto wallet addresses to automatically calculate cost basis and profits/losses, and prepares that information for import to IRS-compliant forms.
Track and secure all your crypto transactions with CoinTracker
Before cashing out cryptocurrency, you’ll need to decide how much privacy you want and what fees you can afford. P2P trades provide the most anonymity, for example, and debit cards are the ultimate convenience but often come with steep fees. You’ll also need a way to maintain clear, accurate records to prepare for the next tax season, while protecting all of your digital assets.
Security matters, especially in crypto tax reporting. CoinTracker puts safety first with end-to-end encryption and token-based two-factor authentication, so you can sync your wallets confidently and generate accurate tax reports in minutes. Create a free account and see why over two million crypto traders trust CoinTracker for secure, reliable tax filing.
Disclaimer: This post is informational only and is not intended as tax advice. For tax advice, please consult a tax professional.