U.S. Government Initiates Systemic Process to Get Large Grasp on Private Cryptocurrencies

Posted on 06/08/2021


During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles Paul Rettig said, “We get challenged frequently, and to have a clear dictate from Congress on the authority of us to collect that information is critical.” The IRS wants more authority from Congress to regulate the cryptocurrency industry and require more reporting on its users. Rettig disclosed that the value of the cryptocurrency market now is over US$ 2 trillion.

The Biden administration has proposed mandating cryptocurrency brokers, including digital currency exchanges, to report information on their customers, including on indirect foreign investors. The U.S. Treasury also require businesses to report when they receive cryptocurrency assets valued at more than US$ 10,000. Earlier, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it has seized 63.7 bitcoins currently valued at approximately US$ 2.3 million. These funds allegedly represent the proceeds of a May 8, 2021 ransom payment to individuals in a group known as DarkSide, which had targeted Colonial Pipeline, resulting in critical infrastructure being taken out of operation. The seizure warrant was authorized earlier Laurel Beeler, U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California.

Cryptocurrency exchanges registered a net outflow of 22,550 BTC on June 6, 2021, the biggest single-day net drain since November 2, 2020, according to data provider Glassnode. The blockchain analytics firm Glassnode tracks flow from 13 bit cryptocurrency exchanges, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken.

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