RE: IRS Sending Letters to "Educate" U.S. Crypto Investors
Yes, but there is one thing that the IRS have not yet done (and judging from the hard on that Mnuchin has for killing off crypto, this is only a matter of time)...
US taxpayers are expected to file an FBAR report with the FINCEN department (overseen by the IRS) if you have assets in excess of $10K overseas at any time. That could be bank accounts, insurance, superannuation, real estate, etc. There are further regulations if that exceeds $50K, but for now just consider the FBAR.
There is no reason why they wouldn't classify crypto as an asset, and since it is not domiciled in the USA (the Internet is not the USA), then it may be that anyone that holds crypto may be required to report with their tax returns the total value of crypto asset holdings if it exceeds the $10K threshold at any time in one year. To my knowledge, this has not yet been enforced but it seems to be a natural path forward for the IRS to require all assets outside of the USA to be disclosed. Failure to do so has HUGE penalties (like $10K per year, with no real statue of limitations exclusions). So that is year on year on year, going back until they see you originated the transaction.
Keep an eye out for this one, because it could catch a lot of crypto holders off guard.