Coinbase will fight vigorously -- for marketing purposes. Ultimately they will lose and be forced to cough up data about their customers. This is not because o

Coinbase will fight vigorously -- for marketing purposes. Ultimately they will lose and be forced to cough up data about their customers. This is not because of bitcoin. That's just a distraction. This is about tax evasion, which is an existential threat to a government. Without revenue, a government dies. With visible disregard for laws, a government dies. Coinbase must, therefore, submit. The Federal government has no alternative. If the current laws are inadequate to the task (hint: the current laws are quite adequate, thank you very much), additional laws will be enacted to accomplish this. If the Department of Justice can bend the biggest banks in the world to its will, why should we expect Coinbase to be able to stand unbowed? We need only look at recent history to predict Coinbase's future. Look at enforcement actions against Swiss banks, and the massive fines imposed by the U.S. This has acted as an efficient "pour encourager les actress" strategy. Related: see the U.S. government's crusade against online gambling, or the way the eBay tax data hole was plugged so that sales are now reported on Form 1099. Prediction: Coinbase will provide data to the government. Recommendation: if you use Bitcoin, report your income (oblig disclaimer). And do business with companies that have zero contact with the U.S. -- no offices, no assets, no owners, no employees. (Disclosure. I am a tax lawyer. I have defended many, many innocent :-) Swiss bank accounts against Federal tax evasion claims. I have dealt with tax problems involving BTC as well. It's easy to predict the future.)