US Court Authorizes IRS to Summon Cryptocurrency User Records From Circle and Poloniex

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has obtained authorization from a federal court to seek information on cryptocurrency users from Circle and Poloniex exchange platforms. The tax authority wants records identifying crypto users who conducted $20,000 or more in crypto transactions during the years 2016 to 2020 as well as other documents relating to their crypto transactions.

IRS Got Court Approval to Summon Data on Crypto Users From Circle and Poloniex

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Thursday that a federal court has authorized the IRS “to serve a John Doe summons” on “Circle Internet Financial Inc., or its predecessors, subsidiaries, divisions, and affiliates, including Poloniex.” The notice reads:

The IRS is seeking the records of Americans who engaged in business with or through Circle, a digital currency exchanger headquartered in Boston.

Poloniex is named in the order since Circle bought the crypto exchange platform in 2018 but spun out the following year into a new company, Polo Digital Assets Ltd.

The DOJ further explained that the IRS is “seeking information about U.S. taxpayers who conducted at least the equivalent of $20,000 in transactions in cryptocurrency during the years 2016 to 2020.” The Justice Department elaborated that “the IRS is requesting that Circle produce records identifying the U.S. taxpayers described above, along with other documents relating to their cryptocurrency transactions.”

The court order explains that the “John Doe” summons seeks information related to the IRS’s “investigation of an ascertainable group or class of persons” that the IRS has reasonable basis to believe “may have failed to comply with any provision of any internal revenue laws.”

The IRS previously served crypto exchange operator Coinbase a similar John Doe summons. The company fought the order for more than a year before complying with a court order and handed over data of about 14,000 customers. According to Coinbase, this represented a 97% reduction in the number of customers impacted by this summons.

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