Stacy Pereira
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of a taxpayer who was pulled up by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which gained access to his data from the digital asset platform.
An amicus brief is a filing in support of a plaintiff by an entity that is not directly involved in the case. In this particular case, the petitioner James Harper, a Coinbase user, is fighting against the IRS, who forced the crypto exchange to turn over his transaction data to the government by issuing summons back in 2017.
The appeal to the Supreme Court reads– “This case directly affects Coinbase’s interest in protecting the privacy rights of its users and in the correct application of this Court’s doctrine on constitutional guarantees against warrantless government demands for third-party service providers to surrender users’ personal information,”
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The brief was filed on 30th April, 2025 and can weigh in heavily in support of the petitioner and also set a precedent for digital privacy rights for crypto users and how the IRS gathers data on taxpayers.
The legal counsel for Coinbases, Paul Grewal took to X, formerly twitter to say “We believe in tax compliance, but this goes far beyond a narrow and tailored request and far beyond crypto. This applies to banks, phone companies, ISPs, email, you name it. As we explain here, you should have the same right to privacy for your inbox or account as you have for a letter in your mailbox.”
Lower courts in the past have not voted in favour of Harper in the past forcing him to knock on the door of the Supreme Court. social media platforms like X and the DeFi Education Fund are others who have filed similar amicus briefs in support of Harper. It is still unknown when the Supreme Court is likely to take up the matter next.
