CRYPTO GUIDANCE INC.

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Kansas City, MO 64114

What Is Form 8938?

Published 2026-08-15. Last updated 2026-08-15. Written by John Alewine, Crypto Guidance Inc.

Form 8938 is the IRS FATCA form, Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets. It is how some U.S. people report foreign accounts and other foreign financial assets above a threshold that depends on filing status and whether they live in the U.S. It is not the same form as an FBAR. People mix them up every spring. I am not your CPA. I am the person who tells you both acronyms exist before a letter does.

Who This Is For

U.S. taxpayers who used a foreign exchange, a foreign broker, or held other specified foreign assets, and whose totals might clear the 8938 thresholds (often much higher than the FBAR's $10,000 peak test, and different if you live abroad). It is not a to-do list for someone whose only venue is a U.S. exchange plus a hardware wallet on the kitchen table.

How It Actually Works

FBAR (FinCEN 114) is a Treasury filing about foreign financial accounts. 8938 is an IRS attachment to your 1040 about specified foreign financial assets. You can owe one, both, or neither. The instructions are the law, not this paragraph.
Thresholds change with married-filing-jointly vs. single and with living inside vs. outside the United States. Look up this year's numbers. Do not memorize a blog from 2019.
A foreign-located exchange account can land on both radars. A device you hold is usually not "a foreign financial account." Facts matter. IRS FATCA for individuals is the starting official page.

Risks I See in Sessions

Filing the FBAR and assuming the IRS already knows. Different agency, different form.
Ignoring both because "crypto is property." Property can still sit inside a foreign account.
Using a foreign venue to dodge 1099-DA and inheriting two international forms instead. Cheap fees are not cheap if the paperwork is sloppy. See the tax guide.

When It Matters

The year you opened anything that is not clearly a U.S. platform. Pair with FBAR. When the number is real, pay someone who has filed both.