IRS is Looking for Tax Evaders on the Cryptocurrency Exchanges
The Internal Revenue Services filed for gaining access to the Kraken exchange users to get an insight into the accredited list of taxpayers. The District Court of Northern California has granted the motion and allowed the IRS to conduct their investigation. According to media reports, IRS is getting ready to get disclosure for the user accounts that are using the crypto exchange since 2016.
The crypto traders at Kraken whose transaction volume grew higher than $20,000 in 4 years would be questioned and summoned by the IRS. As per the United States court ruling, the enterprise would be able to issue John Doe summons to the anonymous users who refuse to come forward and declare their assets. Chuck Retting, IRS Commissioner, opines that cryptocurrency exchanges should not provide shelter to criminals who are deliberately choosing to hide their earnings and ignore the law of the state.
Coinbase Loses against IRS in the Court of Law
The crypto exchange giant Coinbase lost a legal battle with the IRS back in 2017. Ever since the introduction of these crypto exchanges, the tax collection agency has been taking pains to gain access to user information. There is a huge debate in the crypto industry about the implementation of the KYC (know your customer) protocols for exchanges and other crypto-centric services.
After the fall of the giant, many more followed suit. Last week, the crypto payment service provider Circle was served with a John Doe summons by IRS. The enterprise is famous for dealing in USDC stablecoin. Thus far, the federal government authorities have sent more than 10,000 warning letters to crypto holders registered with different crypto exchanges.
Kraken would go Public Next Year
After the successful public listing of Coinbase, Kraken has made up its mind about going public in 2022. Jesse Powell, who has been cynical about the public listing until recently, has told media that the company would like to follow the footsteps of Coinbase and go for a direct listing option. If Kraken manages to get a listing done by next year, its market cap could expand to $20 billion.
Jesse Powell has been quite vocal about the hesitation that the crypto enterprise has been experiencing. He told media that they had been waiting to see how the public listing of Coinbase goes before making any bold moves. Powell also added that Kraken has been able to catch up on last year’s profit in just two months. It seems that the present environment would be ideal for the Kraken public listing.
