ConsenSys – the blockchain firm behind MetaMask – has clarified that its self-custodial wallet does not collect taxes on crypto transactions, nor has it changed its terms of service to do so.
In an update, the company said the rumor was false and based on “inaccurate information” while admitting that “legal terminology can be complicated.”
ConsenSys clarified
The clarification comes a day after several users raised concerns about MetaMask withholding customers’ crypto assets to meet tax obligations. Many of them highlight a particular section, 4.3, of MetaMask’s terms of service, which reads: “We retain the right to withhold taxes if necessary.”
Clearing the confusion, ConsenSys SAYS the tax section of its terms of service falls under the “fees and fees” section, and it is exclusively applicable to the products and paid plans offered by the company and is not related to on-chain ones crypto transactions.
Citing Infura as an example, ConsenSys said Metamask’s Application Programming Interface (API) tool has credit card developer subscriptions that include sales tax.
“The legal terminology can be complicated, but it’s important to emphasize that this section does NOT apply to MetaMask or any other products that don’t involve sales tax. We believe in transparency and accuracy when it comes to sharing of our users’ information.”
The widely circulated wrong information on Twitter even made it to the front page of Reddit’s r/cryptocurrency, which translated into many other strange claims. Comparisons have also been drawn with Ledger’s new update – Ledger Recover – which, so far, has met with strong resistance from the community.
Privacy Mistakes
This is not the first disaster ConsenSys has encountered. While the Ethereum studio managed to dispel rumors about raking in taxes from crypto users, it received significant criticism for collecting their IP addresses and Ethereum wallet addresses at the end of last year.
ConsenSys admitted to collecting usernames, passwords, gender information, and financial data, including asset holdings, bank account numbers, and bank routing numbers, thus raising privacy concerns in November.
After an intense push, the company issued several updates and clarifications on how it stores user data. In an effort to repair the damages, it further revealed that the data collected through MetaMask and Infura is never sold to third parties.
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