risk-mgmt

Your first tax-loss harvest (book a real loss without leaving the market)

Sell ETH at a loss, buy WETH back — stay in the trade, lower your taxes

15 min · intermediate

What you'll have when finished

  • Have one harvested lot in your History
  • Understand the wash-sale 30-day window (both directions)
  • Know how to read the wash-sale conflict warning

Before you start

  • NOT tax advice — talk to a CPA before relying on estimated savings
  • Wash-sale rule applies 30 days BEFORE AND AFTER the harvest sale — a recent purchase of the same asset disqualifies the loss
  • Tax-loss harvesting reduces tax THIS year but resets the replacement asset cost basis to today's lower price

Walkthrough

  1. Open Tax-Loss Harvest + set your tax rate

    Elite → Tax-Loss Harvest. Marginal tax rate field = your combined federal + state rate. Example: 24% federal + 5% state = 29%. The Estimated savings KPI updates based on this number.

    Success criteria: Tax rate field shows your honest combined marginal rate

  2. Set min harvest loss = $50

    Below $50 the fees + slippage eat too much of the savings. $50 is a reasonable floor for most users. Pro traders with low-fee tiers can drop to $25.

    Success criteria: Min harvest loss field = 50

  3. Read the 3 KPI cards

    Harvestable lots = count of losing positions worth harvesting. Total unrealized loss = sum in USD. Estimated tax savings = total loss × your marginal rate. If "Harvestable lots = 0", you have no losses meeting your threshold — wait for the market to give you opportunities (or trade more).

    Success criteria: You can articulate your current harvestable count + dollar savings estimate

  4. Pick one opportunity + a replacement asset

    Opportunities list: each row = one lot. Pick a row. Below it, see suggested replacement(s) — e.g., sell ETH → buy WETH or stETH. Replacements are correlated but legally distinct (avoid wash-sale). Pick one.

    Success criteria: You have one (lot, replacement) pair selected

  5. Click Harvest + preview the plan

    Plan modal opens. Pick the exchange (must be connected). Click Preview. Backend computes: exact sell + buy orders, expected fees, and runs the wash-sale conflict check against your last 30 days of trade history.

    Success criteria: Preview shows non-empty plan AND wash-sale conflict result (green = clean, red = conflict)

  6. If wash-sale conflict appears, STOP

    Red wash-sale banner = you bought or sold the same asset within 30 days. The loss would be disallowed. Either pick a different replacement, wait until 30 days have passed since the conflicting trade, OR (advanced) tick the acknowledgment checkbox to harvest anyway and add the loss to the replacement's cost basis.

    Success criteria: You understand whether your specific opportunity is clean or conflicted

  7. Execute + verify in History tab

    Click Execute. Backend places sell + buy orders on your chosen exchange. Within 1-2 minutes, the orders fill. Switch to History tab — your harvested row should appear with the booked loss amount and the new replacement lot.

    Success criteria: History tab shows your new harvest row

What's next

You booked one tax loss. For your CPA: open Tax Report page and export the 8949 line items at year-end. Habit: re-run Tax-Loss Harvest in late November before tax year close to scan for end-of-year opportunities. Do NOT re-purchase the original asset within 30 days or the loss is disallowed.