US moves to curb Bitcoin and crypto transfers, wants high-value transactions reported to IRS

“Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,” the Treasury Department said.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are soaring, but so are the concerns around them among the governments of different nations. The US Treasury Department has announced a new tax compliance rule for crypto owners, in what may be a clampdown on the crypto markets and transactions in the country. The Treasury has said it will need transactions worth $10,000 or higher using cryptocurrencies to be reported to the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS. The US government already requires intimation to the IRS for cash transactions of the value of $10,000 or more, but since the crypto market is ballooning in terms of volume, there is a bigger problem of tax evasion. “Cryptocurrency already poses a significant detection problem by facilitating illegal activity broadly including tax evasion,” the Treasury Department said in a release. The US government body, although, did mention that cryptocurrency is a small share of existing business transactions in the US. The new rule is meant to put a restraint on these transactions before they grow in volume across the US, given the nature of the currency. There is a looming concern about illegal activities, as well, the Treasury has pointed out in its comprehensive report. Bitcoin, however, showed a little impact on its price, paring off $3,000 from its price after the announcement. But there was an uptick of 5.7 per cent later in the day.