DOJ Tax Division Shows Continued Interest In Cryptocurrency

• Published date: 08 May 2021
• Subject Matter: Corporate/Commercial Law, Technology, Corporate and Company Law, Securities, Fin Tech
• Law Firm: Proskauer Rose LLP
• Author: Ms Lindsey Olson

On May 5, 2021, another federal district court, this time for the Northern District of California, permitted the IRS to proceed with a John Doe summons very similar to the one served on Circle last month (the subject of a recent post). This time, the Summons seeks information on customers of a San Francisco-headquartered digital currency exchange company called Payward Ventures Inc. and Subsidiaries, d/b/a Kraken. Just like in the Circle case, the Summons only applies to customers who have engaged in a total of $20,000 or more in transactions with the company between 2016 and 2020. Also like in Circle, thus far, DOJ is not alleging any wrongdoing by Kraken or its...