News & Analysis as of July 18, 2025

Enforcement Actions

+ Follow

Virtual Currency (aka Digital Currency or Digital Money) is a type of currency or medium of exchange that is not issued by any government nor guaranteed by a government currency. Despite lacking legal tender status, Virtual Currency is still traded and exchanged in some environments, typically online environments or communities. Bitcoin is the most well-known form of Virtual Currency. less -

Blockchain and Digital Assets News and Trends – January 2025

DLA Piper on 1/28/2025

This periodic bulletin is designed to help companies identify important legal developments governing the use and acceptance of blockchain technology, smart contracts, and digital assets. While the use cases for blockchain...more

First Stand-Alone Crypto Tax Fraud Case Leads to Guilty Plea

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 10/24/2024

On September 12, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Frank Richard Ahlgren III pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return underreporting gains from selling $3.7 million in Bitcoin. As we discussed...more

Crypto: Give Unto Caesar What Is Caesar’s

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP on 5/22/2024

Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) brought USA v. Ahlgren, its first crypto case with tax evasion allegations unrelated to another crime, demonstrating the DOJ’s willingness to pursue stand-alone crypto...more

No Further Warnings - Prosecutors Bring First Pure Legal Digital Asset Tax Indictment; More Criminal Cases to Come

BakerHostetler on 2/23/2024

After years of explicitly warning taxpayers that failing to report or underreporting income from transactions involving digital assets would lead to criminal charges, federal prosecutors are now beginning to follow through on...more

Key Takeaways | Cryptocurrency Global Tax Enforcement: What Investors and Companies in the Industry Need to Know NOW

McDermott Will & Emery on 7/28/2021

During a recent program discussing the latest government enforcement efforts related to cryptocurrency, we spoke with Gary Alford, one of the leading Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents in their crypto enforcement efforts,...more

[Webinar] Cryptocurrency Global Tax Enforcement: What Investors and Companies in the Industry Need to Know NOW - June 28th, 12:00...

McDermott Will & Emery on 6/15/2021

Following the US Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) announcement of “Operation Hidden Treasure,” companies and individuals should prepare for increased scrutiny of virtual currency transactions. Unveiled in March, the operation...more

Finding John Doe, Part II: IRS Secures Another Victory to “Root Out” Virtual Currency Tax Noncompliance

McDermott Will & Emery on 5/7/2021

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has scored another significant victory in its rapidly increasing virtual currency tax enforcement efforts. On May 5, 2021, the US District Court for the Northern District of California...more

Finding John Doe: IRS Steps up Enforcement Efforts to Take the Anonymity Out of Virtual Currency

McDermott Will & Emery on 4/21/2021

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is stepping up its virtual currency enforcement, and taxpayers who have engaged in a cryptocurrency transaction should immediately assess any potential tax implications as the IRS has...more

Financial Firms Launch New Crypto Products, NFTs Trending, Crypto Exchange Acquires Broker-Dealer, SEC, DOJ, IRS and CFTC Actions...

BakerHostetler on 4/5/2021

US Institutional Financial Firms, and Fintech Startups, Launch Crypto Products - A major U.S. financial services corporation announced this week that it would begin to settle transactions over the Ethereum Network in USD Coin...more

DOJ Cryptocurrency Guidance Outlines Enforcement Partnerships (Part II of II)

The Volkov Law Group on 11/3/2020

DOJ’s Cyber Digital Task Force’s report, “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework,” provides a comprehensive on the growing partnerships between DOJ and other offices within the executive branch....more

DOJ Releases Cryptocurrency Guidance and Enforcement Framework (Part I of II)

The Volkov Law Group on 11/3/2020

Earlier this month, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), through its Cyber Digital Task Force (hereinafter the “Task Force”), published its 83-page crypto guidance report titled “Cryptocurrency: An Enforcement Framework.”...more

DOJ and IRS May Soon Begin Enforcement Actions Against Virtual Currency Tax Fraudsters

BakerHostetler on 10/23/2020

In the past several years, the use and prevalence of virtual currency have increased exponentially. The proliferation of digital assets has changed the way goods and services are exchanged and has allowed for faster and...more

IRS CI Highlights International Efforts to Tackle Cryptocurrency Abuse, Money Laundering and Tax Evasion

Ballard Spahr LLP on 12/10/2019

ABA Tax Fraud Panel to Discuss IRS CI and Crypto Criminals - The Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation (IRS CI) has made it clear that it is focusing on the abuse of digital currencies to further tax evasion,...more

Bridging The Week - October 2019 #2

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 10/15/2019

A broker-dealer and its chief executive officer settled charges brought in 2017 by the Securities and Exchange Commission that the firm facilitated manipulative conduct by a customer, despite being alerted by regulators and...more

BitBlog Weekly Summary: Digital Asset Regulations in New York State

Polsinelli on 8/27/2019

This week saw two items of note in the regulation of digital assets and both came out of the state of New York. The Return of the Empire State - A New York State Supreme Court ruled that it has personal and subject...more

Crypto Exchange and Payment Solutions Expand, New UK Guidance Issued, US Enforcement Actions Continue

BakerHostetler on 8/5/2019

Cryptocurrency Exchange and Payment Solutions Continue to Expand - This week, Blockchain.com, a London-based supplier of digital wallets, announced that it is moving into the trading side of cryptocurrencies with a...more

Bridging the Weeks - July 2019 #5

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 7/30/2019

A federal appellate court in California issued a decision effectively ratifying the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s expansive view of its authority to bring enforcement actions addressing a diverse range of purported...more

Developments in Cryptocurrency in 2018

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP on 9/24/2018

• The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff made official statements regarding when a token may or may no longer be a security • The SEC continued to bring actions related to cryptocurrency offerings against...more

El IRS está pendiente al Cripto

Foodman CPAs & Advisors on 7/16/2018

El Jefe de Investigación Criminal del IRS, Don Fort, declaró recientemente: "Es posible utilizar Bitcoin y otras Criptomonedas de la misma manera que las cuentas bancarias extranjeras para facilitar la evasión de impuestos"....more

2016 Year End Review: Virtual Currency: DOJ and IRS Broadly Seek Virtual Currency Account User Information

Ballard Spahr LLP on 2/7/2017

Under Internal Revenue Code section 7609(f), the IRS may issue a “John Doe” administrative summons to discover the identities of unknown taxpayers. A “John Doe” summons can be a powerful enforcement tool because it allows the...more

20 Results

View per page

Page: of 1

Virtual Currency › Internal Revenue Service › Enforcement Actions

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"