[1]https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-investor-sues-irs-unlawful-seizure-
   financial-records-crypto-exchanges/

Bitcoin Investor Sues IRS for Unlawful Seizure of Financial Records at 3
Crypto Exchanges

   Bitcoin investor Jim Harper has sued the U.S. Internal Revenue Service
   (IRS), its commissioner, and a number of federal agents. He alleged
   that they unlawfully seized his private financial information from
   three cryptocurrency exchanges.
   Bitcoin Investor vs. IRS

   Bitcoin investor Jim Harper has filed a lawsuit against IRS
   Commissioner Charles P. Rettig, the IRS, and “John Doe IRS Agents
   1-10.” The latter refers to “fictitious names for the person or persons
   who authorized and conducted the search” of his private financial
   records, according to the court document filed on July 15 with the
   District Court for the District of New Hampshire. A jury trial is
   demanded.

   The document outlines three counts of violations. The first is a
   “violation of the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution” as “the
   defendants conducted an unlawful search and seizure” of the plaintiff’s
   private financial information. The second is a violation of the Fifth
   Amendment as “the defendants violated due process protections in
   seizing” the plaintiff’s private financial information. The third is a
   violation of 15 U.S.C. § 7609(f) as the defendants obtained the
   plaintiff’s “financial records through an unlawful John Doe subpoena.”

   The complaint detailed that Harper opened an account with Coinbase in
   2013. He stopped accumulating new bitcoin and began liquidating his
   investments at Coinbase and transferred his remaining holdings to a
   hardware wallet in 2015. By early 2016, he no longer had any bitcoin at
   Coinbase. From 2016, he liquidated his bitcoin through either Abra or
   Uphold exchanges. He claimed to have properly declared and paid all
   applicable taxes on his bitcoin gains.

   The IRS filed the infamous ex parte “[2]John Doe” administrative
   summons on Coinbase in 2016, seeking information on U.S. persons who
   conducted crypto transactions between Jan. 1, 2013, and Dec. 31, 2015.
   Coinbase protested and the IRS [3]narrowed its demand, seeking instead
   information regarding accounts with at least the equivalent of $20,000
   in crypto transactions in any one year during the above period. When
   the exchange refused to comply, the IRS [4]petitioned to enforce the
   summons against Coinbase. According to Coinbase, this means information
   on 8.9 million transactions and 14,355 account holders.
   [end of partial quote]

References

   1. https://news.bitcoin.com/bitcoin-investor-sues-irs-unlawful-seizure-financial-records-crypto-exchanges/
   2. https://news.bitcoin.com/irs-demands-coinbase-records-probe/
   3. https://news.bitcoin.com/the-irs-narrows-information-request-to-coinbase-users-that-transacted-for-20000/
   4. https://news.bitcoin.com/federal-judge-sides-with-coinbase-customer-against-irs/