Cryptocurrency advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has filed an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals, urging the court to consider the unique aspects of blockchain technology when evaluating the privacy rights of cryptocurrency users under the Fourth Amendment. DEF is supporting James Harper’s appeal against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a fight to prevent the U.S. government from having unfettered access to a user’s transaction history on cryptocurrency platforms. Harper was one of the Coinbase users whose data was handed over to the IRS following a court order in 2017, sparking a battle for stronger digital privacy rights. DEF argues that the Fourth Amendment needs to be revised to balance law enforcement’s investigative powers and an individual’s right to financial privacy in the digital age. The advocacy group points to the case of Carpenter v United States to argue that the Fourth Amendment limits the government’s capacity to obtain data from third-party platforms like Coinbase. DEF explains that because cryptocurrency transactions are traceable on public ledgers, it is possible to connect real-life identities to pseudonymous addresses. This level of insight far exceeds what is attainable through traditional banking records. The final decision of Harper v Werfel and Internal Revenue Services is expected to set a precedent for digital privacy rights and law enforcement measures in the U.S.

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Information	Details
Geography	North America
Countries
Sentiment	neutral
Relevance Score	1
People	James Harper
Companies	U.S. government, U.S. Court of Appeals, DeFi Education Fund, Internal Revenue Service, Coinbase
Currencies	None
Securities	None