The chances of a crypto-friendly amendment to the law are diminishing

The draft “US” Infrastructure Bill, which very unhappily defines the term “broker” in connection with the cryptocurrency point, is again closer to approval in a wording that is far from ideal for the US cryptosector.

The definition of the law, in which the term “broker” according to lawyers refers not only to US cryptocurrency exchange, but may also be applicable to cryptocurrency miners, PoS validators, node operators or hardware or software wallet developers, cryptocurrency lobbyists have sought to modify. in the form of an amendment already in the US Senate, but despite that, despite the consent of most senators with the support of the US Treasury Department, it finally passed unchanged (due to one senator who thwarted the whole effort).

The problem is that the definition of “broker” in its original form could be murderous for the US crypto sector – these entities (with the exception of exchanges) would be required by the Tax Office (IRS) to provide information on users and transactions that they cannot. to provide. Because they just don’t have how.

The Senate has indicated that it will not support amendments to the law

After the failure in the Senate, the lobbyists hoped to succeed with the amendment concerning the problematic definition in the House of Representatives, where, however, they suffered another blow. In yesterday’s vote of the members of the Chamber of Deputies, it was decided that the law would go to the next vote in the form in which it came from the Senate, without any amendments. 220 members of the House of Representatives voted in favor, while only 212 were against. Speaker Nancy Pelosi subsequently pledged to pass the bill by September 27 and then sign it for President Joe Biden. This means that the scope for enforcing the amendment on cryptocurrencies is limited.

The big problem is that in the House of Representatives they no longer want to allow the law to return to the Senate, where he stayed for a long time. Lawmakers feel strong pressure for the bill, which is to pour more than a trillion dollars into the US budget in taxes in the coming years, into force as soon as possible. Possible amendments (and not only those concerning cryptocurrencies) could significantly slow down the whole process.

No need to panic?

However, an anonymous official from the Ministry of Finance, whose allegations were quoted by several media, including CNBC, was supposed to calm the situation slightly, saying the ministry intended to conduct a detailed analysis to assess which crypto-industry entities were able to comply with the Infrastructure Bill and which no. In other words, the US Treasury Department allegedly does not plan to sanction or hunt for entities that could violate the law on the grounds that they have no way to comply with it (BTC miners, POS validators, developers, node operators, etc.).

1 / I’m glad to hear that Treasury officials are telling reporters on background that they don’t intend to target miners if the infrastructure bill’s crypto tax provision becomes law, but I’m afraid that is little comfort. Let me explain. https://t.co/plaLdO3c0O pic.twitter.com/neRBCxYr7L

– Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 24, 2021

One of the leading cryptolobists, Jerry Brito of the Coin Center, nevertheless expressed concern about what this law might mean to the American cryptosector in its unaltered form. In a long thread, which he published on Twitter, he emphasized that the fight for better regulation of cryptocurrencies in the USA has only just begun and will be a long-distance run.

He noted that some US lawmakers questioned that the current definition of “broker” could have a negative impact on US cryptocurrency industry.

9 / Again, I appreciate that it seems to be Treasury’s intention to get this right, and we look forward to engaging in any regulatory process in the years to come. But please don’t accept the narrative that folks in crypto are overreacting about this provision.

– Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 24, 2021