Bitcoin Daily: HM Revenue & Customs Demands Crypto Traders’ Info; Blockchain Lender Raises $18.3M In Series A Round

The British tax authority wants cryptocurrency exchanges to share customer names and transaction data in order to track down unpaid taxes.

According to CoinDesk, HM Revenue & Customs has sent letters requesting the information to at least three exchanges active in the U.K. — Coinbase, eToro and CEX.IO.

“HMRC is looking to work with exchanges when it comes to finding information on people who have been buying and selling crypto,” said one source. “I think they will only go back a couple of years, two or three years.”

While the HMRC declined to go into detail, saying it could jeopardize the assessment or collection of taxes, it confirmed that the request is within its jurisdiction.

“These exchanges can retain information on their clients and the transactions that they have completed,” the agency said. “These transactions may result in potential tax charges, and HMRC has the power to issue notices requiring exchanges to provide this information.”

In other news, BlockFi announced in a press release that it has raised $18.3 million in a series A funding round led by Valar Ventures.

Winklevoss Capital, Galaxy Digital, ConsenSys Ventures, Akuna Capital, Avon Ventures, Susquehanna, CMT Digital, Morgan Creek and PJC also participated in the round. The new funding will be used to add products to BlockFi’s existing platform, which includes interest-earning accounts for bitcoin and crypto-backed loans.

“We’re excited to continue development at BlockFi that will bring us closer to our vision of a world where access to wealth-building financial products and services are not limited by geography or an individual’s net worth,” said BlockFi CEO and founder Zac Prince in the release. “Our talented team and strategic backers will continue to drive the crypto financial services infrastructure forward to facilitate adoption and value creation in the crypto ecosystem.”

And tZERO revealed in a press release that it has received a patent for the Time Ordered Merkle Epoch (TOME) methodology.

TOME, which uses digital signatures to record and verify time-series data, such as trades, executions and settlements, will allow tZERO to record incoming trades quickly and efficiently.

“This technology, which is synergistic with the patent that we announced earlier this year, has many use-cases in our ecosystem,” said tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi in the release. “It can be used in our suite of products, as well as licensed to companies across various industries that are seeking to maintain a tamper-proof and auditable record of time-series-based data. Today’s announcement showcases our technological leadership in blockchain innovation and underscores the strength of tZERO’s intellectual property and its growing portfolio of strategic assets.”