coinbase

The U.S. government urges the Supreme Court to dismiss Coinbase users' challenge against the IRS for obtaining crypto records

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, on May 30, the U.S. government submitted documents to the Supreme Court requesting to dismiss Coinbase user James Harper's appeal against the IRS's acquisition of his cryptocurrency transaction records. Attorney General D. John Sauer stated that under the Fourth Amendment, Harper does not have a right to privacy regarding the financial records stored on Coinbase, as this data was "voluntarily" shared with the exchange, and the IRS obtained it through lawful judicial procedures.The case stems from the IRS's cryptocurrency tax investigation in 2016, when the agency discovered that a large number of Coinbase users had not reported their crypto gains, subsequently obtaining a "John Doe" subpoena requiring the exchange to submit records of high-volume users. Harper filed a lawsuit claiming this constituted an unconstitutional search, but lower courts ruled that Coinbase records are commercial documents rather than personal private documents, and the IRS's actions were lawful.The government cited precedents such as United States v. Miller to emphasize that users have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding financial records held by third parties, and Coinbase's privacy policy clearly warns that information may be shared with law enforcement agencies.The Supreme Court has yet to decide whether to hear the case. If it declines, it will uphold the First Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling in support of the IRS.
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