The maker of the cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask, ConsenSys, has shot down rumors that it taxed users of cryptocurrencies. On May 22, the company tweeted to its 270,000 followers that the rumors were “inaccurate information” derived from a misinterpretation of MetaMask’s terms of service.
The business made it clear that the tax clause in its terms of service only applied to the paid plans and products that were being offered and had nothing to do with on-chain cryptocurrency transactions.
Legalese can be complicated, but it’s important to stress that MetaMask and other items that don’t require sales tax are not covered by this section. Taxes on cryptocurrency transactions are not collected by MetaMask, and we have not amended our terms to do so.
Following users’ discovery of a clause in MetaMask’s terms of service that stated the company “reserved the right to withhold taxes where required,” some members of the cryptocurrency community accused the company of engaging in foul play on May 21. Some believed this referenced users’ income taxes.
The false information quickly rose through the ranks to the top of Reddit’s r/cryptocurrency section, where it currently has more than 500 upvotes and 600 comments. Several influential Twitter accounts also shared screenshots of the highlighted section, with some adamantly asserting that MetaMask was now following in the footsteps of Ledger, which recently shocked users with a contentious upgrade.
Not everyone, though, believed the rumors, and some in the cryptocurrency community quickly refuted them. Twitter user printer_brrr, using the pseudonym printer_brrr, complained that “everyone is blindly tweeting about the MetaMask tax clause in TOS but not actually reading it.”
“They may withhold taxes like sales tax for a product you purchase from them. Like Amazon does when you make a purchase there,” they continued.
