Several members of the United States Congress are working together to propose an amendment to the new infrastructure bill that would better describe what crypto brokers are and lessen some of the tax burdens the bill is set to place on cryptocurrency investors.
Will the Infrastructure Bill Change?
The amendment is a bipartisan move coming by way of Senators Ron Wyden of Oregon (democrat) Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming (republican), and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania (republican). They believe that the bill, as it currently stands, works to place limits on innovation occurring within the crypto and financial spaces and could potentially prevent bitcoin miners from establishing long-term business within the U.S.
The infrastructure bill has been at the center of some controversy given that it is not entirely complete, and yet members of Congress have chosen to vote on it anyway. One of the big things about the bill is that it is set to tax crypto investors even further. This taxation is alleged to bring an additional $28 billion into play that the country would then put towards its ailing power and transportation systems.
Lummis, Wyden, and Toomey are now experiencing some “competition” from three other Senators, who are proposing a new amendment to the bill that is ultimately getting support from Joe Biden. The Senators proposing this new amendment are Krysten Sinema of Arizona (democrat), Rob Portman of Ohio (republican), and Mark Warner of Virginia (democrat). Allegedly, this new bill is designed to prevent tax evasion through crypto use.
Discussing the new amendment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates explained in an interview:
The Administration believes this provision will strengthen tax compliance in this emerging area of finance and ensure that high income taxpayers are contributing what they owe under the law. We are grateful to Chairman Wyden for his leadership in pushing the Senate to address this issue. However, we believe that the alternative amendment… strikes the right balance.
Wyden, Toomey, and Lummis have vowed to fight back, saying they are not fans of the newly proposed amendment by their three counterparts. They claim this new amendment plays favorites with certain portions of the crypto industry while completely ignoring others. Wyden explained on social media:
The Warner-Portman-Sinema amendment provides a government-sanctioned safe harbor for the most climate-damaging form of crypto tech called proof-of-work. It would be a mistake for the climate and for innovation to advance this amendment.
The Language Is “Too Broad”
In the meantime, many analysts are criticizing the original language of the bill, claiming that the verbiage used to describe a crypto broker is “too broad.” These words came from R Street Institute Senior Fellow Bryson Bort, who also mentioned:
The problem was that it was such a broad definition. Does that mean that people who build software that crypto miners use, are they going to have to report to the IRS?
