The cryptocurrency advocacy group DeFi Education Fund (DEF) has submitted 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. DEF is supporting James Harper’s appeal against the Internal Revenue Service to prevent the government from having unrestricted access to users’ transaction history on cryptocurrency platforms. DEF argues that the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government, needs to be revised in order to balance law enforcement’s investigative powers with individuals’ right to financial privacy in the digital age.
DEF also cites the case of Carpenter v United States to suggest that the Fourth Amendment limits the government’s ability to obtain data from third-party platforms like Coinbase. The advocacy group highlights that cryptocurrency transactions can be traced on public ledgers, allowing real-life identities to be linked to pseudonymous addresses. DEF emphasizes that the government’s request for user data in the Coinbase case affected the livelihoods of all 14,355 users, providing the government with extensive insight into users’ personal lives, surpassing what is attainable through traditional banking records.
The DeFi Education Fund aims to educate policymakers about the benefits of decentralized finance and achieve regulatory clarity for the DeFi ecosystem. The final decision in the Harper v Werfel and Internal Revenue Services case is expected to establish a precedent for digital privacy rights and law enforcement measures in the United States.
