Short answer
Yes, if you hold it. Scholars differ on whether cryptocurrency is real money or a permissible investment, but those who treat it as property agree that crypto held for profit is zakatable at 2.5 percent of its market value on your zakat date, added to your other wealth.
Crypto bought to hold or trade for profit is treated like currency or trade goods: zakat at 2.5 percent is due on its market value on your zakat date, as part of your total zakatable wealth. The cautious course is to pay zakat on any coin you hold while you look into whether holding it is permitted.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Cryptocurrency is a contested area. Some respected scholars hold that it lacks the features of real money, or carries so much speculation (gharar) that buying it is not allowed. Others accept the major coins as digital assets or currency that may be owned and traded. This entry does not settle that debate. It answers the zakat question for people who already hold crypto.
Scholars who treat crypto as property, from all four schools, broadly agree on how zakat works:
- On your zakat date, take the market value of every coin you hold, on exchanges and in wallets, in your own currency.
- Add it to your cash, gold, shares and other zakatable wealth, and subtract debts that are due.
- Pay 2.5 percent of the total if it reaches the nisab.
- Stablecoins are counted like cash. Staking rewards or mined coins join your pool as they come in.
If you have lost access to a wallet, the coins are treated like lost money: no zakat is due on them until you regain access. Tokens built on gambling or interest-based lending are a different matter: the gains are not lawful wealth and should be given away rather than zakated. Because the questions differ from coin to coin, ask a scholar about your own holdings. For shares and funds, see zakat on stocks.
Ask a mufti about your own case. This answer explains the general ruling. When the details of your situation matter, as they do here, ask a qualified mufti and give them the full facts. Where to ask a scholar.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Adh-Dhaariyat 51:19
وَفِىٓ أَمْوَٰلِهِمْ حَقٌّۭ لِّلسَّآئِلِ وَٱلْمَحْرُومِ ﴿١٩﴾
And from their properties was [given] the right of the [needy] petitioner and the deprived.
The poor have a right in the wealth of believers, whatever form it takes.
Sahih al-Bukhari 1403
Sahih... من آتاه الله مالا فلم يؤد زكاته ...
"Whoever Allah gives wealth and does not pay its zakat, his wealth will be made into a bald serpent for him on the Day of Resurrection."
The warning applies to any wealth whose zakat is withheld.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Radd al-Muhtar, Kitab al-Zakat, chapter on the zakat of wealth, on trade goods. Goods held for profit are zakated at their market value.
- Fiqhi Maqalat, Mufti Taqi Usmani's paper on currency notes. The basis for treating new forms of money by their value.
This answer is pending review by the scholars on our team. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.