NFTs blue chips: tax guide for high net worth collectors

Top-of-the-line NFT collections like CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), Azuki, or Pudgy Penguins have reached selling prices of hundreds of thousands of dollars per piece. The Spanish owners of these assets have specific tax obligations that go beyond personal income tax.

What are NFT blue chips?

"Blue chip" collections are those that have demonstrated:

• Sustained demand and liquidity in the market.
• Stable long-term floor price.
• Cultural and institutional recognition (e.g. CryptoPunks owned by museums, BAYC owned by celebrities).

Main collections:

• CryptoPunks: 10,000 pixelarts, some sold for +8M$, property of Yuga Labs.
• BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club): 10,000 apes, the most famous with +4M$ by some.
• Azuki: Japanese anime aesthetic, floor of hundreds of ETH.
• Pudgy Penguins: mainstream pop culture, with physical toys.
• Milady Maker, Chromie Squiggle (Art Blocks), etc.

Taxation of the purchase of a blue chip NFT

When purchasing an NFT blue chip:

• You transmit ETH → you buy the NFT. Tax event: transmission of ETH at market price.
• GPO on ETH (difference between acquisition cost of ETH and the sale price).
• NFT acquisition cost: value in EUR of the ETH paid + associated gas fees.

Taxation of the sale of a blue chip NFT

When selling the NFT:

• You receive ETH → transmission of the NFT.
• GPO: sale price (ETH at the EUR/ETH exchange rate) − acquisition cost of the NFT.
• If you sold for more than what you paid → profit based on savings.
• If you sold for less → compensable capital loss.

The royalty market: Many NFT blue chips have royalties of 5-10% that go to the creator on each resale. These royalties reduce the transmission amount for the seller (it is a cost of the sale, not an income for the seller).

OpenSea/Blur Royalties: The 2023 Change

OpenSea and Blur reduced royalty requirements in 2023. For the seller: you can now sell without paying royalties. This affects the creators, not directly the seller for personal income tax (the relevant amount is the net paid/received).

The Wealth Tax and NFT blue chips

If you have a CryptoPunk worth €500,000 as of December 31:

• It must be included in the Wealth Tax (IP) at that value.
• The IP applies to the total net assets (if it exceeds the exempt minimum of €700,000 in the State or according to the CCAA).
• Communities like Madrid have the IP subsidized at 100%, but the Solidarity Tax of Great Fortunes (ISGF) may apply.

Rating for the IP and the ISGF:

• It is valued at the market price (price observed in the main marketplaces) as of December 31.
• For unique NFTs: the floor price of the collection is an acceptable reference if there is no comparable recent sale.

NFT blue chip inheritances and gifts

When inheriting a CryptoPunk:

• ISD is taxed on the market value on the day of death.
• The heir's acquisition cost is that value declared in the ISD.

When giving a BAYC:

• The donor transmits the NFT → GPO (market value at the time of donation − acquisition cost).
• The recipient pays ISD on the value of the gift.

Fractionalization of NFT blue chips

Some projects allow NFTs to be fractionalized into fungible tokens (e.g.: Tessera/Fractional for BAYC, CryptoPunks):

• 1 NFT → N fungible ERC-20 tokens.
• Fractionalization could be a transmission of the NFT → GPO.
• The tokens received have an acquisition cost = GPO recognized in the fractionalization.
• When the NFT is reconstituted → transmission of the tokens.

NFT blue chips and money laundering

The AEAT and the SEPBLAC (Executive Service of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering) have high-value NFT transactions on their radar. If you buy a BAYC for 200 ETH (€400,000):

• There is no obligation to justify the origin of funds to the buyer on a DEX exchange.
• However, if you use a marketplace with KYC (OpenSea, Blur with certain limits) → they can report it.
• If you sell and collect those 200 ETH → when converting to EUR, the bank may request documentation of the origin.

Registration and documentation for NFT blue chips

Due to the high value, the documentation must be especially careful:

1. Screenshot of the purchase price (in ETH and EUR at the moment).
2. Hash of the purchase and sale transaction.
3. Gas fees paid (increase the acquisition cost).
4. Royalties paid (decrease the transmission amount).
5. Valuation as of December 31 of each year (for IP and ISGF).

Updated: April 2026 | Fiscal year: 2025