It's not clear whether the Applicable Federal Rate applies to the lending of cryptocurrency between family members. Our prior post focused on the interest income received in connection with lending cryptocurrency and the fact that such income needed to be reported. The AFR does apply to loans between family members when money is being loaned and the loan amount is over $10,000. Thus, the issue is whether cryptocurrency is money as that term is used in connection with the AFR. The IRS continues to characterize cryptocurrency as property, and thus, all of the rules that apply to the purchase/sale of property apply to cryptocurrency.
To the extent the stable coins are the functional equivalent of money (fiat currency), then you could be in a situation where the AFR applies, and you would then need to charge your family member interest consistent with the AFR. However, this issue, i.e., whether the AFR applies to cryptocurrency, is beyond the scope of the advice we can offer. You should consider discussing this matter with your personal tax advisor.
Whether the AFR applies to a loan of cryptocurrency between family members is one issue; however, the gift tax rules apply to money as well as property. Thus, whatever tax position you take given your tax situation, you might consider making sure that the cryptocurrency you lent to your family member is not deemed a gift. While it has at least some characteristics of being a loan, if it somehow were re-characterized as a gift, then the gift tax rules would apply. Exceeding the annual gift tax threshold requires the filing of a gift tax return. The gift tax threshold for 2022 is $16,000 and $17,000 for 2023. The threshold usually gets increased based on inflation every year, and it sometimes gets modified by changes to federal tax laws.
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