The Spanish tax authorities at the hacienda have requested trading information from 60 organisations which accept or trade cryptocurrency, in a bid to crack down on digital coin tax evasion.
The organizations, which include sixteen banks, security firms and currency platforms, are required to supply information on accounts connected with digital coin usage, including the names of the account holders, the sum of currency changing hands and details of associated credit cards.
The probe stemmed from an initial investigation by the National Fraud Investigation Office looking at bank accounts opened by foreign currency exchange shops, according to an official close to the investigation.
A tax office source says there are two objectives to these requests; to analyze income received via bitcoins and to identify the origin of payments made with cryptocurrencies to detect possible money laundering, reports Spanish newspaper El Confidencial. The authorities will then determine if further investigations are needed or if tighter controls should be implemented in order to prevent future tax evasion through digital currency.
Bitcoin has dropped more than 50 percent this year to $6,741, according to Bloomberg.