Change to Crypto Provision in Infrastructure Bill Blocked – By Laura Davison and MacKenzie Hawkins (Bloomberg) / Aug 10 2021
(Bloomberg) — A change to cryptocurrency reporting rules in the infrastructure bill was blocked in the Senate Monday, leaving language for broad oversight of virtual currencies still in the legislation that’s set to pass the Senate.
The amendment was designed to address concerns from the cryptocurrency industry that the original bill would require entities, like miners and software developers, to report tax data to the Internal Revenue Service that they didn’t have access to. The change was proposed after days of negotiations between three Republicans — Pat Toomey, Cynthia Lummis and Rob Portman — and two Democrats, Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema.
The amendment’s failure represents a blow to the crypto industry, which had pushed hard in recent weeks for more narrowly targeted oversight. Portman has said there are other ways to clarify the bill’s language, including Senate floor speeches to show the lawmakers’ intent and additional guidance from the Treasury Department. Lummis said Congress will have to revisit the issue.
“All that means is we’re gonna have to fight this another day because it’s important that the Congress define these terms and create a level playing field,” Lummis said in an interview. “Going forward this fall we’re gonna have to be much more proactive about defining terms in this space so people can still innovate.”
