The Sync Feature

A guide on how 'sync' and 'hard sync' work, along with tips on how to utilize them.

Layla Huang avatar
Written by Layla Huang
Updated over a week ago

There are two ways to sync your data in Crypto Tax Calculator. The features sync and hard sync are only available when you import your data via API or wallets, they do not apply if you import your data via CSV files.

Sync

Synchronizing the API key or wallet updates the data only from the last sync point, ensuring no duplication issues arise when syncing from the same source. To check the time of the last synchronization, simply hover your mouse over the sync button located on the Integration page. You have the option to sync either by blockchain/exchange (indicated by the upper set of three dots in the image below) or by a specific wallet/API (shown as the lower set of three dots in the image below).

Syncing a singular account

Navigate to the Integration page and click on the blockchain or exchange to expand its section. Then, hover over the API/wallet you wish to synchronize. Click on the three dots associated with the wallet or API and select 'Sync' from the dropdown menu.

This process imports the latest data from the time of the last synchronization for the specified wallet or API.

Syncing multiple API accounts

Navigate to the Integration page and click the three dots associated with the blockchain or exchange. Select 'Sync' from the dropdown menu.

This process imports the latest data from the time of the last synchronization for all wallets or APIs under this blockchain or exchange.

Hard Sync

The hard sync function thoroughly synchronizes the entire dataset from the beginning of time or the custom date you selected for the selected API or wallet.

During this process, CTC will check for any transactions that don't exist in CTC, which includes the transactions deleted previously (but not the 'ignored' ones).

Does hard sync change my existing data?

When you sync or hard sync a data source, we do not touch, delete, or alter any transactions already imported via that data source.

We only import the transactions that don't exist in CTC. Because of this, there may be scenarios where the details of a transaction may have changed slightly in the exchange’s database, causing us to import the same transaction again.

How does CTC recognize transactions?

With the exchange API, CTC recognizes the ID; With the on-chain wallet, CTC recognizes the Tx ID. Categorizing or changing the timestamp or amount of the transaction does not change how Crypto Tax Calculator recognizes the transaction as long as the Tx ID (on-chain wallet) or ID (exchange) doesn’t change.

How to utilize the hard sync feature?

Examples of how Hard Sync is useful can be seen below (Note: Keep in mind that hard sync could duplicate the transactions.):

Example 1 - You want to re-import the original data for some reason.

This comes in handy when you accidentally break the transactions and can not be restored. You should try to restore the transaction first by following this guide. If that doesn't work, you can follow the below steps:

  1. Filter the tx ID and ensure you delete all transactions associated with that tx ID.

  2. Hard-sync the API/wallet.

Example 2 - The exchange or blockchain API endpoint starts supporting new types of data that weren’t supported previously.

Note: If you've already imported the missing data via other sources (e.g., a CSV file), you should reconsider which approach suits you better before hard syncing as it will 100% bring in duplicate transactions.

In this case, 'sync' does not bring in the previous data. You need to hard sync to import the previously missing data.

Example 3 - Missing transactions.

Occasionally, there might be part of the transaction missing due to the API connection stability between Crypto Tax Calculator and the exchange API endpoints. Hard sync can bring in the missing transactions. (E.g., A buy and a sell transaction with the same Tx ID, but only the buy was imported.)

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