Digital currency exchange Coinbase today provided an update on their situation with the IRS. Back in November, the IRS summoned Coinbase to provide the identity of all US-based clients doing business on the exchange. Juan Saurez of Coinbase’s legal team gave the update, which you can read below.
Today the IRS filed a motion in federal court to compel Coinbase to produce customer personal records pursuant to the government’s “John Doe” summons. This filing, has been anticipated for several weeks, is part of the ordinary process by which the government enforces a John Doe summons against a recipient.
Saurez said:
“As we stated to our customers in November, Coinbase remains concerned with the indiscriminate and overbroad scope of the government’s summons and we have produced no records under the summons.”
The Coinbase legal team is in the process of reviewing the IRS’s motion. Further, the company will continue to work with the IRS to assess the government’s willingness to fundamentally reconsider the focus and scope of the summons. If it does not, Coinbase anticipates filing opposition papers in court in coming months.
