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IRS Will Seize Crypto Assets on Failure to Pay US Taxes: Official
Crypto is treated by the IRS as property for U.S. tax purposes and can be seized in the same way, an official said.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 12:54 p.m. Published May 13, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) could seize people’s crypto assets to settle unpaid taxes, an agency official said.
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- Robert Wearing, deputy associate chief counsel at the IRS, told a virtual conference Wednesday that crypto can be seized in the event of failure to pay taxes, just like other property.
- This is in line with a 2014 IRS notice that crypto will be treated as property, not currency, for tax purposes.
- “Bottom line: The IRS will seize that property and will attempt to follow its usual procedures to sell it and use it to satisfy collection,” Wearing said, according to a Bloomberg report.
- The IRS recently contracted with crypto tax service provider TaxBit to assist with auditing of crypto transactions to verify the correct reporting of taxes by high-volume traders.
See also: How to File Your Crypto Taxes (and Not Get Screwed)
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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Hong Kong proposes new rules to tap insurance capital into cryptocurrencies
Public consultation on the proposal will occur from February to April 2025, with legislative submissions expected later that year.
What to know:
- Hong Kong is considering new rules to allow insurers to invest in digital assets, potentially boosting institutional crypto adoption in Asia.
- The proposal mandates a 100% risk charge on direct crypto holdings, requiring insurers to reserve a dollar for every dollar invested.
- Public consultation on the proposal will occur from February to April 2025, with legislative submissions expected later that year.
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