FinCEN wants disclosure of Americans’ offshore crypto holdings

In the last hours of 2020, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), a bureau of the United States Department of the Treasury, dropped another bomb on the cryptocurrency industry, revealing its intentions to mandate the reporting of any financial account held by Americans in a foreign country that holds more than $10,000 in currencies.

In a proposal filed on last Thursday, FinCEN proposed an amendment to the Bank Secrecy Act's Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR) regulations.

According to the notice, “FinCEN intends to propose to amend the regulations implementing the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) regarding reports of foreign financial accounts (FBAR) to include virtual currency as a type of reportable account.”

According to the Internal Revenue Services (IRS), the FBAR reports must include the name of the account holder, account number, details of the foreign bank, type of account and the maximum value held in a financial year.