Hi John,

Financial data is some of your most sensitive information—everything from expenses, income, and cash flow to your debts and assets are private information you wouldn’t share with just anybody. Why allow the government’s eyes on your every financial transaction? You shouldn’t.

The US Treasury and IRS are proposing new rules to facilitate government financial surveillance and threaten privacy and anonymity online.¹ Let them know that financial privacy is important to you.

TAKE ACTION NOW

In 2021, the US Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) despite the public backlash. The package contained misguided provisions that threatened software developers trying to create alternatives to Big Banks and Big Tech. We pushed back through our viral dontkillcrypto.com campaign and now we have to fight its implementation.

This rule will define a digital asset and who qualifies as a broker under the tax code. Anyone deemed a broker is required to collect and keep personally-identifiable information from users of their tools (including names, addresses and other financial information) and report that information to the IRS in the name of reducing tax avoidance. This might look fine on the surface, but it really means that the government is forcing decentralized tech projects to track and sell out their users’ data.

This is unconstitutional and a downright violation of our right to financial privacy. It could have major consequences not just for digital assets and their use but for our financial privacy in general. Because the definition is so broad, developers working on related tech projects would be forced to collect information they don’t have and certainly don’t need. Not to mention that compliance with this rule and its reporting requirements would be virtually impossible. This could have a chilling effect and spell the end for decentralized tech projects reimagining our digital and financial futures.

The comment deadline is less than 3 weeks away—we have until October 30 to submit comments and come out strong against this new rule. That’s why we built a tool that makes it easy. We don’t all have to agree on crypto and decentralized tech, but we can agree that we need to stand up against all forms of government surveillance. Submit a comment now and tell the government to stop this attack on our financial privacy.

Thanks for standing up for privacy,

Ese at Fight for the Future

1. U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS Release Proposed Regulations on Sales and Exchanges of Digital Assets by Brokers