Hyperliquid tax in Canada

Updated 16 October 2026 · General information, not tax advice

Canada uses the calendar year. Your 2025 return is due 30 April 2026 (15 June if you or your spouse are self-employed, with any balance still due 30 April); 2026 follows the same pattern.

New: PaperTax's Canadian defaults are awaiting review by a local tax professional. Treat them as a starting point for your adviser.

Capital or business income?

CRA looks at how often you trade, how long you hold, your knowledge, time spent and whether you borrow to trade. Frequent, organised trading points to business income (fully taxable, losses fully deductible). Otherwise gains and losses are capital, with one-half included in income for 2025 and 2026; the proposed increase was cancelled in March 2025.

Perps and funding

CRA hasn't published guidance on perpetual futures. For futures, CRA has accepted capital treatment for speculators who report consistently every year (archived IT-346R). PaperTax records each perp close as a capital gain or loss by default and treats funding as part of the position's result. Both are flagged for your adviser.

Spot trades, ACB and superficial losses

Gains use the average cost of identical property across all your wallets (adjusted cost base), and a loss is denied if you buy the same token within 30 days before or after the sale and still hold it (superficial loss). PaperTax exports the trades for Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator to apply ACB in Canadian dollars; its own spot figure is an estimate.

Staking, rewards, airdrops and DeFi

Staking rewards are generally income when credited, at fair market value.
Referral rewards are generally income.
Airdrops have no CRA guidance; commonly income if tied to an activity.
Depositing tokens for receipt tokens (liquidity pools, and by extension liquid staking and lending) was treated as a disposition in CRA technical interpretation 2023-0973071I7.

Canadian dollars and records

PaperTax reports in US dollars. CRA expects Canadian dollars, by default at the Bank of Canada daily rate, and records kept for six years.

How to get your numbers

Paste your wallet at papertax.xyz and choose Canada · 2025 or 2026.
Export for Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator, or the audit pack for your accountant.

Questions

Are Hyperliquid perps capital gains in Canada?

There is no CRA guidance on perps. Capital treatment is common for occasional traders if reported consistently, but frequent trading can be business income. PaperTax records capital gains and losses by default and flags them for review.

What capital gains inclusion rate applies for 2025 and 2026?

One-half. The proposed increase to two-thirds was cancelled in March 2025.

Does PaperTax apply the superficial loss rule?

It has to be applied across all your wallets, so PaperTax exports your trades for Koinly or Crypto Tax Calculator, which calculate ACB and superficial losses.