Awaken Full Service vs Crypto Tax Made Easy: Done-for-You Crypto Tax Help Compared

Short answer: Awaken Full Service is Awaken’s done-for-you option for cleaning and categorizing an Awaken account, handled by Awaken’s US-based support team and developers. It starts at $3,000 per year, with a flat-rate quote provided after Awaken reviews your wallets. CTME is the better fit if you want software-independent reconciliation, senior crypto accountants and licensed tax professionals in the review path, CPA or CA/tax-agent partner support for separately scoped filing or advisory, or extra confidence on a complex DeFi or high-value account.

Disclosure: Crypto Tax Made Easy is an Awaken partner. If you sign up for Awaken Full Service through a link on this page, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We use and recommend Awaken for the right clients. This article compares two service models, not whether Awaken is good software. (Their DeFi import is genuinely strong.)

The real question is simple:

Do you use Awaken’s own full-service team, or hire CTME for a broader reconciliation with a professional review path attached?

If you’re still deciding whether the software itself fits your activity, start with our full Awaken Tax review, or see how it ranks against the field in our best crypto tax software guide.

Awaken Full Service vs CTME at a glance

What Awaken Full Service includes

Awaken runs its full-service offer as done-for-you crypto tax help handled by a US-based, full-time team, without outsourcing or bots. The flow is: you provide wallet addresses and exchange API keys or CSVs, Awaken’s team reviews the account, categorizes transactions, and asks questions through a private Telegram group.

Awaken handles DeFi interactions, LP positions, bridges, staking rewards, NFT trades, airdrops, and the other stuff that’s a nightmare to categorize by hand. Communication runs through a private Telegram group, and Awaken says most clients spend under an hour of their own time on it.

Two things make this model genuinely useful:

First, Awaken’s developers actively extend protocol support for the specific chains and contracts in your history. A dapp that imports as a mess today can be built out properly at the software level rather than force-tagged into rough categories.

Second, their support team is on hand to make manual changes where the automated categorization needs a human call. So you get engineering that improves the import and support staff who clean up what’s left by hand. That combination is a real part of what you’re paying for.

The published turnaround is typically four to six weeks, depending on complexity. Awaken also supports prior-year catch-ups, including clients with multiple unfiled years.

The final deliverable is a fully reviewed Awaken account with categorized transactions, downloadable tax reports, and an audit trail showing how transactions were treated. You can review the categorizations before the reports are finalized, and the Telegram group stays available afterward for follow-up questions.

What CTME does differently

Crypto Tax Made Easy are also Awaken experts who provide a done-for-you service that handles complex defi, hyperliquid, and high volume trading accounts. We ensure proper categorization of your transactions, and review the accuracy of tax reports prior to delivery.

The biggest differences are:

First, CTME has senior crypto accountants and licensed tax professionals in our review path, and they look at the tax impact, not just how a transaction got tagged. Is that huge software-generated gain real? Was the cost basis properly calculated? Should a proposed treatment get a licensed professional’s sign-off before it hits a return?

For US clients, CPA partner review is available for advisory and filing. For Australian clients, we’ve got CA and registered tax agent support. That’s the software-plus-accountant approach applied to a real return.

Second, if Awaken does not support a protocol or platform, CTME can pull the data and help reconcile the data outside of Awaken. Then, we can help with proper import and tagging in Awaken if required.

Finally, CTME runs a crypto tax analysis with licensed tax partners to uncover every known opportunity to reduce the tax you owe. You can use that report for an advisory discussion with your existing accountant, or one of our partners.

And we know Awaken cold. Awaken workflows are built into our course material, our team has reconciled 106+ Awaken accounts, and we’re the top firm listed on one of Awaken’s own accountant recommendation pages. We use the software, we teach it, and we know exactly where a human reconciliation earns its keep on top of it.

“Awaken Tax + Crypto Tax Made Easy. I had 30k transactions in 2024 and they got me right.”

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Does Awaken Full Service include tax filing or advisory?

No. Awaken Full Service cleans and categorizes your account and hands you an audit-ready workbook. Licensed tax work isn’t part of it. Awaken doesn’t advertise CPA-led return filing, licensed tax advice, or representation before a tax authority, and it’s upfront that it prepares your figures to work alongside your CPA, who files the return.

That’s fine for what Awaken is. If all you need is a clean account and downloadable reports, Awaken may cover the job. But if you also need someone licensed to file the return, review a tax position, or advise on a strategy, that’s a separate hire on top of Awaken. With CTME, licensed review and a filing-partner handoff are built into the engagement.

CTME is for clients who want senior crypto accountants reviewing the tax impact, licensed tax professionals in the review path, and a route to CPA or CA/tax-agent partner support when filing or advisory questions show up. Our US crypto accountant service and Australian crypto accountant service explain those jurisdiction-specific paths.

Awaken Full Service pricing starts at $3,000 per year

Awaken’s public pricing page says Full Service Bookkeeping starts at $3,000 per year. Its Full Service page explains the next step: upload your wallets, let the team review the activity, and receive a flat-rate quote before you commit. Put those together and the position is clear. $3,000 is the published floor, not a guaranteed final price.

That quote-based model makes sense because transaction count alone does not show how difficult a file will be. Repetitive exchange activity can be faster to clean than a smaller DeFi history with missing cost basis, NFT mints, LP exits, and cross-chain breaks.

CTME also scopes the actual reconciliation problem. Engagements start at $1,500, with a custom scoped quote from there. Limited reviews focus on the highest tax-impact issues, while full engagements account for data quality, repetition, protocol complexity, tax years, and the level of professional review required.

The useful comparison is the written scope: what gets reviewed, what the final deliverable includes, who handles tax questions, and what happens if the initial cleanup uncovers deeper problems. If you want to compare the software first, read our full Awaken Tax review. If you want a CTME reconciliation quote, send us your wallet and exchange details.

When Awaken Full Service is probably the right fit

Awaken Full Service may be the right call if:

• You already use Awaken and want to stay inside Awaken.
• You want Awaken’s own team to clean and tag the account.
• You want Awaken’s developers building out protocol support for the exact contracts in your history.
• You’re fine working through Telegram.
• You want the deliverable to be a reviewed Awaken account and Awaken-generated reports.
• You are comfortable with a service starting at $3,000 per year.
• Awaken’s quoted price makes sense against your portfolio value and tax issue.

In that lane, having Awaken’s own team work inside the product can be efficient.

When CTME is the better fit

CTME is usually the better call if:

• You want senior crypto accountants focused on the tax impact, not just the software cleanup.
• You want licensed tax professionals in the review path.
• You need CPA partner review in the US or CA/tax-agent partner review in Australia.
• You’ve got high portfolio value, high PnL, high complexity, or a tax number you flat-out don’t trust.
• Your activity is DeFi-heavy: farming, LPs, bridges, NFTs, staking, and cross-chain history where treatment, not just tagging, is the hard part.
• Your account is high transaction count but repetitive (validators, miners, TWAPs, streamed rewards, limit orders, exchange trades).
• You want to compare Awaken and CTME scopes before committing.
• You want a second set of eyes after Awaken Full Service.
• Your account is lower transaction count and doesn’t need a full Awaken Full Service engagement.

The practical distinction is this: Awaken Full Service gives you a clean, fully reviewed Awaken account. CTME gives you a tax number that senior accountants have checked against your raw data, with licensed review on tap when a filing or advisory question shows up.

Already used Awaken Full Service? Here’s CTME’s second-look option

If you’ve already been through Awaken Full Service, we can run a high-level second review.

This is a targeted review, not a full rebuild of Awaken’s work. A senior accountant goes through your highest tax-impact areas and checks for signs that you’re overpaying or leaning on a treatment that deserves another look.

We usually run this through a limited-scope review. The first block of time goes to the big stuff: large disposals, missing cost basis, DeFi exits, bridges, income categories, suspicious gains, and anything that could materially move the return.

We can also flag whether a tax strategy analysis is worth running through our CPA or CA tax partners. That’s especially useful for US and Australian clients sitting on large gains, a tangled DeFi history, or a filing decision that’s coming up fast.

What it doesn’t include: a guarantee that every transaction has been fully re-reconciled. This is a risk-focused second look, not a full rebuild. If the file needs deeper work, we’ll scope that separately and tell you before we start.

What client proof backs CTME up?

Our reviews page carries 60+ verified 5-star reviews, and across the firm we’ve served 1,410+ investors and reconciled 6.7M+ transactions. The themes that matter for this decision keep repeating:

• Software outputs that were materially wrong until a human reconciled them.
• Reports showing enormous initial gains that came down hard after review (we’ve watched “gains” resolve into net losses more than once).
• DeFi users deep in farming, liquidity pools, NFTs, staking, and thousands of transactions.
• Serious time saved and stress dropped before filing.
• Clients whose tax savings ran past the cost of the service.

Those map straight onto the Full Service decision. If the job is cleaning and categorizing an Awaken account, Awaken may well be enough. If the worry is whether the final number makes sense across the underlying source data, our manual reconciliation and review model may be the stronger fit. You can read the supporting client feedback on our verified reviews page, and the measured version in what changed across 802 client reports. (Past results are historical and don’t guarantee future outcomes.)

What about just using a regular accountant?

You still need one. In the US, a CPA handles filing. In Australia, a tax agent handles lodgement.

But most regular accountants don’t want to rebuild a DeFi wallet from raw transactions. They want a clean Form 8949, a gains report, an income summary, and a support package they can rely on.

Awaken Full Service and CTME both fill that gap, just from different ends. Awaken works inside its own software. CTME works across the source data and selected software, with professional review and a filing-partner handoff where separately scoped.

Our recommendation

Use Awaken Full Service if you’re committed to Awaken, comfortable with the $3,000 published starting price, and want Awaken’s own team and developers to clean the account inside the product.

Use CTME if you want done-for-you reconciliation with senior accounting review, need a second look after Awaken, or want a separately scoped engagement.

For whales in the US or Australia sitting on high portfolio value, high PnL, or complex DeFi, don’t make this call on transaction count alone. Get a quote and compare the whole picture: service model, review depth, credential path, and total filing risk. That’s the number that actually matters.

Ready to choose? Start with Awaken Full Service if you want to work inside Awaken, or request a free CTME quote if you want us to scope the reconciliation first.

FAQs

How much does Awaken Full Service cost?

Awaken’s pricing page says Full Service Bookkeeping starts at $3,000 per year. The Full Service page says Awaken reviews your wallets and provides a flat-rate quote before you commit, so $3,000 is the published minimum rather than a guaranteed final price.

How long does Awaken Full Service take?

Awaken says Full Service typically takes four to six weeks, depending on the complexity of the transaction history. High-volume or complex DeFi accounts may take longer, with progress updates provided through Telegram.

Can Awaken Full Service handle prior tax years?

Yes. Awaken says it can help clients catch up on previous tax years, and that prior-year activity may affect the quote.

Does Awaken Full Service build out support for my protocols?

Awaken’s model includes developers extending protocol support for the contracts in your history and a support team that makes manual adjustments where the automated categorization needs a human call. That’s part of why the service is priced the way it is.

Is CTME cheaper than Awaken Full Service?

Sometimes, but transaction count is only one factor. Compare the written scopes and quotes for your actual wallets, tax years, data quality, and review needs.

Does Awaken Full Service include CPA or tax-agent review?

No. Awaken Full Service prepares your figures and an audit-ready workbook to hand to your CPA. It doesn’t include CPA-led filing, licensed tax advice, or tax-authority representation, so you’d arrange that separately. CTME builds licensed review and a filing-partner handoff into the engagement.

Can CTME review my Awaken Full Service report?

Yes. We can run a high-level review focused on your highest tax-impact transactions, and scope deeper reconciliation if the Awaken output needs a second look.

Keep reading

• The “Done For You” crypto tax report have a specialist reconcile and file it for you.

About the author

Matt Walrath

Founder of Crypto Tax Made Easy. Matt has worked in crypto tax since 2017, leading reconciliation work across DeFi, cost basis cleanup, exchange tax forms, and tax software reviews. CTME has reconciled 6.7M+ transactions for 1,410+ investors, and Matt has appeared with Binance and spoken at the Australia Crypto Convention.

Disclaimer: The information provided by Crypto Tax Made Easy is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute professional, financial, accounting, or tax advice. Consult a qualified professional about your specific situation.