TPT Wealth backs greater protections for crypto investors as tax office takes an interest

"Cryptocurrency is incredibly volatile and can be highly problematic even for the most sophisticated wholesale investor," TPT Wealth general manager Alan Logan said on Tuesday.

"We absolutely support appropriate regulatory oversight around cryptocurrency.

"It's important that investors are given more confidence and protections around this emerging asset class."

Mr Logan said many of TPT Wealth's clients were retirees, not-for-profits, charities, schools, churches and aged care homes.

"They're understandably extremely conservative investors who are looking for trusted, more secure and longer term options for wealth creation," he said.

"For this reason, cryptocurrency is not an asset class we're investing in, nor is there the demand from our clients for us to do so."

There is growing talk around the world of regulating the volatile sector.

The Australian Taxation Office is also taking a keen interest.

Capital gains from crypto assets, property and shares will be one of the ATO's four key areas of focus at tax time this year.

It said if someone disposed of property, shares or crypto assets this year, including non-fungible tokens (NFTs), they would need to calculate a capital gain or capital loss and include it on their tax return.

"Crypto is a popular type of asset and we expect to see more capital gains or capital losses reported in tax returns this year," ATO assistant commissioner Tim Loh said.

"Remember you can't offset your crypto losses against your salary and wages.

"Through our data collection processes, we know that many Aussies are buying, selling or exchanging digital coins and assets, so it's important people understand what this means for their tax obligations."

The ATO will also focus this year on record keeping, work-related expenses and rental property income and deductions.

TPT Wealth is part of MyState Limited.

MyState Bank is also part of the group.