The bitcoin exchange Coinbase has been ordered to hand the IRS info on 14,355 of its highest-rolling customers

• Becky Peterson
 

• Nov. 29, 2017, 7:57 PM
• 18,718
 

Associated Press/Susan Walsh

• On Wednesday, a court ordered Coinbase to hand over information to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about users that made transactions over $20,000 between 2013 and 2015.
• That request includes information on 14,355 Coinbase customers across 8.9 million transactions, according to the court order. 
• The order comes nearly a year after the IRS first requested records on all of Coinbase's transactions between 2013 and 2015 as part of its efforts to catch tax evaders.

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Just hours after wild fluctuations in bitcoin prices put Coinbase's servers on the fritz, the cryptocurrency exchange is facing a new challenge: the US government. 

Coinbase must turn over information about thousands of its users to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a US district court ruled on Wednesday.

As one of the leading exchanges for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ether, Coinbase has seen billions of dollars exchanged on its platform— some of which the IRS believes is not being accurately reported by taxpayers.

The court order requires Coinbase to hand over info on all customers who made a transaction worth $20,000 or more between 2013 and 2015. Coinbase has estimated that this request would total 8.9 million transactions between 14,355 different account holders, according to the court order.  

Among the information requested are the names, birth dates, addresses, tax IDs, transaction logs and account invoices of the Coinbase users.

That sounds like a lot of information but it's actually a major narrowing from the IRS's initial summons in November 2016, which sought information about every single transaction on the exchange during the period. Coinbase argued that this was an invasion of its customers' privacy. The company initially ignored the request, before the IRS filed a petition to enforce the summons in March of this year. 

An "unprecedented victory for the industry"

A blog post from Coinbase Wednesday celebrated the ruling as a partial success, calling it an "unprecedented victory for the industry." 

"The government’s own lawyers noted at the hearing that the IRS is not accustomed to having to fight for records in this context, and most companies just turn records over without going to court," David Farmer, director of business operations at Coinbase, wrote in the blog.

Farmer wrote that the final number of people whose records were ordered on Wednesday is 97% lower than when the IRS first requested information.

Despite the celebration, Farmer suggested in the blog that Coinbase may not obey the request, or may challenge the order further. "In the event that we ultimately produce the documents under this Court order, we intend to notify impacted users in advance of any disclosure," Farmer wrote. 

Wednesday's court order denied Coinbase's request for an "evidentiary hearing," which Coinbase could have used to argue that the IRS showed bad faith in requesting the documents it asked for. 

Bitcoin is one of the most popular iterations of blockchain technology. Find out exactly how blockchain works with Business Insider's special explainer.

Get the latest Bitcoin price here.>>

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin's price is collapsing and people can't trade because 2 big exchanges have crashed

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CVS and Aetna are reportedly nearing a $66 billion deal

• Akin Oyedele
 

• Nov. 30, 2017, 10:51 AM
• 4,052
 

A worker at a temporary CVS store in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, in 2012.Brendan McDermid/Reuters

AET Aetna

 178.32 -1.89 (-1.00 %)

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CVS CVS Health

 74.50 -2.10 (-2.70 %)

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• CVS is very close to buying Aetna, according to The Wall Street Journal.
• A deal would most likely be valued at $200 to $205 per Aetna share, the report said.
• Aetna's stock jumped 2% to as high as $192.37 a share after the report.
• A merger would help the companies fend off competition from Amazon.

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Shares of the retail-pharmacy giant CVS and the health insurer Aetna jumped in trading on Thursday after The Wall Street Journal reported that the two companies were nearing a deal.

CVS was reported in late October to be in talks to buy Aetna in a deal worth about $66 billion.

According to the latest report, CVS is nearing a majority-cash purchase of Aetna of $200 to $205 a share. Aetna's stock gained 2% on the news to as high as $192.37 a share. CVS rose by as much as 5%.

Aetna previously agreed to buy its rival insurer Humana for $34 billion, but the Department of Justice blocked that deal. A judge ruled in favor of the DOJ in January, saying a combination of the two companies would be anticompetitive.

For CVS, the acquisition would be a step toward fending off competition from Amazon, which has been speculated to be interested in the healthcare industry. It would allow the retailer to keep a greater share of each drug sale and to direct more Aetna clients into its stores.

Markets Insider

SEE ALSO: CVS is plotting a $66 billion takeover — and it has a lot to do with fending off Amazon

NOW WATCH: Investors are running out of money — and that's bad news for stocks

More: CVS Aetna Mergers And Acquisitions

A 'Big Four' accounting firm is accepting bitcoin payments

• Frank Chaparro
 

• 23h
• 11,493

Bogdan Cristel/Reuters

• PwC, the accounting firm and consultancy, announced Thursday it is accepting bitcoin payments from its clients.
• Accounting firms have shown more interest in digital coins than Wall Street banks. 

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PwC, the consultancy and "Big Four" accounting firm, announced Thursday that it accepted its first payment in bitcoin.

The announcement, which was reported first by The Wall Street Journal, was made by Raymund Chao, chairman of PwC Asia-Pacific. 

“This decision helps illustrate how we are embracing new technology and incorporating innovative business models across our full range of services," Chao said in a statement. 

Bitcoin, the red-hot cryptocurrency, has dominated financial news cycles as more Wall Street firms dive into the nascent market for digital coins. It blew past $11,000 per coin Wednesday before falling back below $10,000. 

As for PwC, this isn't the firm's first foray into the world of cryptocurrencies. In 2014, the company wrote a report exploring how digital coins like bitcoin could impact a wide-range of industries, including travel and gambling.

"Bitcoin as the ideal casino chip? Possibly. It provides a high level of user privacy, immediate access to funds and irreversibility — to the casino’s and player’s benefit," the firm wrote.

Accounting firms such as PwC and rival Ernst Young have shown more interest in digital currencies than Wall Street banks. EY, for instance, joined the Bitcoin Association, a Switzerland-based bitcoin advocacy firm, in May. 

"It is important to us that everybody gets on board and prepares themselves for the revolution set to take place in the business world through blockchains, smart contracts and digital currencies," Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY Switzerland, said. 

Bank CEOs have had a less favorable view of cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon famously called bitcoin a "fraud." Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein said Thursday his firm is in no rush to develop a strategy on bitcoin, according to a Bloomberg News report. 

Read more about blockchain, the technology powering bitcoin, here. 

Get the latest Bitcoin price here.>>

SEE ALSO: Bitcoin keeps sliding a day after wild trading

NOW WATCH: A self-made millionaire describes the financial mistakes to avoid if you want to get rich by 30

More: Bitcoin Accounting PwC

The Divide (Video)

The Divide

2015  

Across the United States and the United Kingdom, economic policies that were set in place decades ago continue to harbor a growing wedge between the wealthy and the poor. The ambitious two-part documentary The Divide introduces us to seven citizens who have experienced the effects of this disparity firsthand.

Though the film includes archived news footage related to several key economic milestones - the technology boom, the rise of Wall Street, and the calamitous financial crisis of 2008 among them - it is by no means a dry lesson in government policy. Instead, the filmmakers focus almost exclusively on the human side of the equation.

In New York City, a psychologist serves the mental health needs of Wall Street's most successful movers and shakers. Not content to teach or open a practice for less privileged clients - where his salary might be limited to a mere $100,000 a year - he now lives the high life, or at least works hard at maintaining the appearance that he is.

A small business owner was forced to close her shop after a Walmart was erected nearby. Later, she procured employment from that same Walmart that put her out of business. Over the years, she's detected a depressing change in corporate culture. Employees are pushed to their limits, no longer recognized for their hard work as they once were, and the company leaders are less willing to share the fruits of their success.

Through these and other portraits, we understand the psychological and societal implications of wealth inequality between the haves, the have nots, and those who are trying to break from one social status to the other. This dynamic is especially profound in the story of Jen, a mother from Sacramento, California who lives in a luxury gated community. She doesn't know her neighbors, and she can frequently feel them judging her based on the type of car she drives and her willingness to do her own yard work.

Economic inequality is currently at its highest level since 1928. The Divide mourns the passing of a way of life that is no longer simple, balanced or just, and which now values the facade of success over all else.

Directed by: Katharine Round

The pound is jumping after reports that the UK has agreed a €50 billion Brexit bill

• Will Martin
 

• 6h
• 653

Brexit secretary David Davis greets the EU's chief negotiator Michael Barnier Reuters

• Sterling climbs after reports that UK and EU have settled on the cost of the so-called Brexit "divorce bill."
• Estimates suggest that it will be around €50 billion.
• The pound reacts well to the news, climbing above 1.34 against the dollar to a two-month high.

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LONDON — The value of the pound is climbing on Wednesday as traders and investors react to reports overnight that the UK and EU have finally reached an agreement on the amount Britain will pay in a so-called "divorce bill" when it leaves the bloc.

Both the Daily Telegraph and the Financial Times reported on Tuesday evening that bill had been agreed, although their estimates of how much that bill would be differed.

Citing unnamed diplomats, The FT reported that Britain has agreed to liabilities of up to €100 billion, while it expects to ultimately pay "less than half that amount."

The Telegraph, meanwhile, reported that the UK will reportedly pay between €45-55 billion as it leaves the European Union, with the exact figure depending on how it is calculated.

The divorce bill has been a major sticking point in negotiations, with EU negotiators refusing to progress talks onto subjects like the transition deal until "sufficient progress" was reached on it and other issues like EU citizens' rights and the Irish border.

Initial reports of the agreement sent the pound substantially higher on Tuesday evening, and it has continued to rise on Wednesday morning in European trading, climbing above 1.34 against the dollar to hit a two-month high.

The logic behind the move seems to be that the agreement of a settlement represents substantial progress in talks, and removes a little bit of the uncertainty that has been plaguing market participants in recent weeks and months.

By just after 9.15 a.m. GMT (4.15 a.m. ET) the pound is around 0.3% higher on the greenback, having pulled back from a gain of around 0.6% a little earlier during trade. Here is the chart:

Markets Insider

"Following last night’s jump, the cable continued its rise today on hopes of a significant Brexit breakthrough. Shorts are coming out as the squeeze comes on but will the rally last? It’s down to the politics again, with various risks to the bullish case still unresolved. Nevertheless it may be time to turn cautiously optimistic on sterling," Neil Wilson, senior analyst at ETX Capital said in an email earlier on Wednesday morning.

NOW WATCH: A self-made millionaire describes the financial mistakes to avoid if you want to get rich by 30

More: Pound Pound dollar Brexit Brexit Bill

Meredith buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion

• Associated Press

• Nov. 26, 2017, 7:23 PM
• 5,659
 

Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images

NEW YORK — Meredith Corp. says it is buying Time Inc. for about $1.8 billion in a deal that joins two giant magazine companies.

Meredith will pay $18.50 a share in cash and tack on about $1 billion in debt.

Meredith brings with it a magazine portfolio that includes Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Allrecipes, and Shape, while Time Inc. owns properties including Time, Sports Illustrated, People, Fortune, and Entertainment Weekly.

The companies said the deal was unanimously approved by their boards of directors and would close early next year.

Combined, the companies posted $4.8 billion in revenue last year. Meredith expects it will save up to $500 million in costs in the first two years of operation.

More: Associated Press Time Inc Meredith Corp.