Coinbase has submitted a brief in a U.S. Supreme Court case centered on a request from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for records concerning the crypto transactions of its customers. The case dates back to a 2017 IRS request aimed at obtaining extensive transaction data from Coinbase, which claimed government overreach in seeking information on hundreds of thousands of users. Coinbase contends that the court should protect users' privacy rights concerning data stored by third-party service providers, arguing that the IRS should not be allowed to conduct broad searches without warrants. This issue gained additional prominence when a Coinbase customer, James Harper, challenged the IRS's request, arguing it violated privacy expectations. The Department of Justice maintains that individuals should have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding information voluntarily shared with third parties, such as financial institutions. Coinbase emphasizes that government access to such information compromises user anonymity and creates privacy vulnerabilities in blockchain technology.

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