Two €1,000 limits for crypto ETNs, and only one works on its own

The documented position: you only need an exemption order for crypto if your coins sit in a German securities account as a security, that is as a crypto ETN or ETP. For Bitcoin on an exchange or in your own wallet, taxation runs through a different section of the law, and an exemption order has no effect there. Both routes work with an amount of €1,000, and that alone produces the costliest mix-ups in German tax law on crypto assets. Our own assessment follows in a separate section below. The difference is not a detail for tax advisers.