Note from the CEO: Hello, “I’m with the IRS and I’m here to help you”.
Hearing those words bring about one thing. RUN!! So, the Fed gumshoes just want to take a little peek at all the personal data of all the Coinbase users for, oh say 2 or 3 years. No biggie, just curious. Hmmmmm, Cook Islands look really nice.
One way to interpret this article is that since the US government is seeking information on cryptocurrencies, it means things are getting attention, accepted and going mainstream. But it also most certainly means that more regulation and revenue collection is being scrutinized and looked at more closely. With user anonymity a strong “selling point” for digital currencies and the IRS seemingly on a broad ‘fishing expedition”, it appears that this initial summons will be fought vigorously. Too soon to worry, but time to be aware as well.
"A US government request to trawl through the personal data of millions of users of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase signals the start of an effort to pull digital currencies like bitcoin into the mainstream, experts have said.
The 'John Doe' summons, a broad order for data on all Coinbase users in 2013, 2014 and 2015, was filed by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a federal court in California on 17 November.
In the summons, the IRS said that all of Coinbase’s users in that period 'have not been or may not be complying with US internal revenue laws'.
Coinbase has said it will fight the request in court."
Source: TheGuardian