IRS Crypto Team Bleeds Talent as Agents Flee for Private Sector Paydays
Another week, another brain drain—this time at the IRS’s crypto enforcement division. Sources report a steady exodus of agents lured by triple-digit salary bumps at blockchain analytics firms and crypto-native compliance shops.
Who can blame them? The IRS still treats crypto like a niche hobby while the industry builds its own parallel financial system. Meanwhile, Wall Street banks poach ex-regulators like trophy hires—because nothing says ’compliance’ like a revolving door.
Key takeaway: When even government auditors won’t HODL their positions, you know the incentives are broken. The taxman’s loss is Chainalysis’s gain—until the next bull run turns compliance officers back into degenerate traders.
Tuesday
- 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The House Financial Services Committee held a subcommittee hearing titled "Hearing Entitled: Regulatory Overreach: The Price Tag on American Prosperity."
Thursday
- 19:00 UTC (3:00 p.m. ET) Avraham Eisenberg, who was arrested and tried for his $110 million exploit of Mango Markets, was sentenced to just over four years in prison after pleading guilty to possession of child sexual abuse material. During the sentencing hearing, the federal judge overseeing the case said he was open to a retrial on the Mango Markets-related charges.
- (The New York Times) The Times dug into Donald Trump’s entry and deepening connections into the crypto industry.
- (The Washington Post) The Post published a list of the top donors to Trump’s inauguration fund. Included in this list: Ripple Labs ($4.9 million donated), Robinhood Markets ($2 million), Fred Ehrsam, Circle, Coinbase, Crypto.com, Galaxy Digital, Ondo Finance, Kraken and Solana Labs ($1 million each). Several of these companies have since filed to go public, seen the SEC drop lawsuits and investigations against them or announced partnerships with Trump-affiliated businesses.
- (Politico) The Senate is likely to vote on stablecoin legislation before the end of May, Majority Leader John Thune said at a Republican conference lunch.
- (The New York Times) The Times also published a deep dive into Tether and its own deepening ties to Washington, D.C.
- (Reuters) North Korean employees set up corporate entities in the U.S. to target crypto firms.
- (The New York Times) This is a very bonkers story of some folks who stole some crypto. Just read it.
- (Politico) This is a fascinating read by Politico’s Victoria Guida about Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s experience and views.
- (404 Media) Researchers claiming to be part of the University of Zurich set up a "large-scale experiment in which they secretly deployed AI-powered bots into a popular debate subreddit" to see whether AI would change people’s minds. These bots used fake backstories and made over 1,700 comments. Reddit said it was issuing "formal legal demands" to the researchers in response.
- (The New York Times) Roger Ver, i.e. "Bitcoin Jesus," hired Roger Stone to try and lobby for legal changes that might help Ver, who is accused of tax charges.
- (Semafor) A number of prominent venture capitalists and tech executives, including crypto company executives, have private group chats that Semafor reports show a growing political divide.
- (Wired) Spain and Portugal suffered a massive blackout earlier this week. Wired dug into some of the technical issues at play.
If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at [email protected] or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.
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See ya’ll next week!
