ConsenSys, the company behind MetaMask, has denied claims that its self-custodial wallet collects taxes on crypto transactions. The company clarified that it has not modified its terms of service to do so and that the rumor is false and based on inaccurate information. Several users raised concerns about MetaMask withholding customers’ crypto assets to meet tax obligations after highlighting section 4.3 of its terms of service, which states that taxes may be withheld as necessary. ConsenSys clarified that this section relates only to products and paid plans offered by the company and has nothing to do with on-chain crypto transactions. The misinformation on Twitter reached the front page of r/cryptocurrency on Reddit, but was later debunked by ConsenSys.
ConsenSys has previously faced backlash for collecting users’ IP addresses and Ethereum wallet addresses, as well as usernames, passwords, gender information, and financial data, including asset holdings, bank account numbers, and bank routing numbers. The company issued updates and clarifications on how it stores user data, and confirmed that data collected via MetaMask and Infura had never been sold to third parties.
