Coinbase chief legal officer opposes U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed crypto tax reporting rules

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal posted on the X platform that he opposes the U.S. Treasury Department’s proposed cryptocurrency tax reporting regulations, which are related to fairness and innovation in emerging industries. Grewal said the proposed regulations go far beyond congressional mandates to establish tax reporting rules on par with traditional finance, putting digital assets at a disadvantage and potentially harming the fledgling industry. The new rules also require reporting of nearly all digital asset transactions, even the purchase of a cup of coffee, setting a dangerous precedent for monitoring consumers’ daily financial activities. There is no legitimate public purpose for collecting such data, and it would likely impose a heavy demand burden on Web3 startups and would be beyond the IRS's data analysis capabilities.