By Cryptocurrency Bitcoin’s status as an anonymous, decentralized digital money source was undermined this week, for Americans at least, by a federal court ruling that grants the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) powers to seek information on its users.On Wednesday, Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the California Northern District Court ruled that America’s largest Bitcoin service, Coinbase, must provide the IRS with records of every customer who traded the digital currency on the site between 2014 and 2015.The so-called “John Doe” summons will lift the veil of anonymity on five million Coinbase users and reveal details of multiple-millions of transactions, as part of an effort to identify tax evaders.Despite the ruling, the value of Bitcoin has remained stable, so far, at least.San Francisco-based Coinbase is a Bitcoin wallet, essentially a service providing online accounts for holding and trading the digital currency.In general, Bitcoin transactions are visible on a public ledger, but the identity of the participants is encrypted.

However, Coinbase has records of its own private customers, of course.The ruling could well prove to be a blow to Bitcoin’s reputation as an instrument of liberation from government law and world banking, however.ubs and bitcoinThe currency, and those like it, was created as an essentially subversive alternative to the world’s centralized banking systems, but more recently it has, to an extent, been integrated into the financial and legal system.In 2014, the IRS announced that Bitcoin would be treated as property for tax purposes, meaning that people who sold digital currencies at a profit would be liable for capital gains taxes.bitcoin linux walletBut first, the IRS has to find them.In September of this year, a federal judge went one step further in declaring that Bitcoin was actual “money,” in the eyes of the law.bitcoin hyip scam

For gaming operators, Bitcoin was initially seen as a means of circumventing prohibitions in jurisdictions where online gambling was illegal, precisely because it had no legal classification.bitcoin space minerThis is no longer the case.Coinbase said today it intended to challenge the ruling, which it described as a “sweeping fishing expedition” on behalf of the IRS.“We are aware of, and expected, the Court’s ex parte order today,” Coinbase said in a statement.bitcoin api wiki“We look forward to opposing the DOJ’s request in court after Coinbase is served with a subpoena.bitcoin drillingAs we previously stated, we remain concerned with our US customers’ legitimate privacy rights in the face of the government’s sweeping request.”The Justice Department wasted no time in responding, and letting users know they are on the radar.“There is no allegation in this suit that Coinbase has engaged in any wrongdoing in connection with its virtual currency exchange business,” the DOJ said on Wednesday in a statement.bitcoin mining next difficulty

“Rather, the IRS uses John Doe summonses to obtain information about possible violations of internal revenue laws by individuals whose identities are unknown.”to the moon guy bitcoinThe IRS Loophole Investment Guide (or Investment Guide for short) is a product that describes how to navigate the legal loopholes in the US federal tax code to your advantage.bitcoin scams malaysiaThe Investment Guide is a product of the Hartford Gold Group, that lists itself as having offices at the 11900 Olympic high rise in Los Angeles, CA.The site features an image of the building with the Hartford Gold logo prominently displayed on the front of the building in 10-foot letters.However, a Google Street View image of 11900 Olympic, taken in February of 2017, reveals the truth: the office building does not have massive branding for Hartford Gold.In fact, the listed businesses that rent space in the office complex are clearly legible in the image on a sign outside the building, and Hartford Gold's name is not listed there.

Why Hartford Gold chose to misrepresent itself by Photo shopping its logo on the front of the building – where it certainly isn't in real life – is unknown, but it doesn't look good for the company's respectability factor.If the company isn't truly located at 11900 Olympic, there's no knowing where it's really headquartered, especially since the site was registered anonymously.The Investment Guide is a free digital product that purportedly shows you all sorts of tricks of the trade when it comes to safeguarding your investment income from the reach of the taxman.However, the truth is that once you receive your “free guide,” Hartford Gold now has your name, your email address, and your phone number, as they are requirements for receiving the Investment Guide.In other words, the free product is just a leads funnel that will put you in contact with a Hartford Gold representative, ostensibly to sell you a gold-backed IRA through the company.The only opportunity you'll be presented with by downloading the Investment Guide is to be cold-called and spam emailed incessantly by people looking to convince you to buy a gold IRA through Hartford Gold.

Ask yourself something: if you had foolproof insider information regarding how to beat the IRS at their own game safely and legally, would you give it away for free?Well, maybe you would, but we wouldn't.We'd market that information aggressively at an affordable price, but we wouldn't just be giving it away.It's the same reason you don't find too many tax accountants just doing your federal income taxes for free – because they are selling a service to you, not giving it away out of the goodness of their own hearts.Sadly we don't think that Hartford Gold is giving anything away for free either.Trading your personal information for a likely useless digital product will only get you put on Hartford Gold's sales list, and you'll be in for a flurry of hard-sell sales pitches to invest in gold-backed IRAs because the sky is falling.If you really are looking to diversify your investment portfolio in gold, silver, or other precious metals, find a reputable source of information and not one who's giving away “free products” to get you on their prospects list – and certainly not one who can't be bothered to Photoshop their logo properly onto an existing picture.