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Crypto taxes could cost $11 billion in Biden's budget proposal

The budget proposal includes applying "mark-to-market" rules to crypto.

President Biden's proposed budget eyes $11 billion in revenue from revised crypto rules.

President Biden's proposed budget eyes $11 billion in revenue from revised crypto rules.

Photo illustration: Drew Angerer/Getty Images; Protocol

Crypto is hot, and the White House thinks the industry should pay a bigger share of taxes.

President Joe Biden’s proposed federal budget anticipates $11 billion in new revenue over the next decade from revised crypto rules. It expects around $5 billion in additional revenue in 2023 alone.

The projected tax revenue is based on proposals to “modernize rules” related to digital assets. The bulk of the additional revenue would come from a proposal around extending "mark-to-market" rules to more digital assets, which could mean that crypto that appreciates in price might be taxed even if it's not sold.

The plan is part of the Biden administration’s plan to shrink the national deficit by more than $1 trillion over the next decade.

The Biden budget also seeks an additional $52 million to counter cyber threats, including boosting programs for “combating the misuse of cryptocurrency.”

President Biden earlier this month issued an executive order that affirmed the importance of cryptocurrencies while stressing the need to protect consumers, investors and the financial system.

Benjamin Pimentel

Benjamin Pimentel ( @benpimentel) covers crypto and fintech from San Francisco. He has reported on many of the biggest tech stories over the past 20 years for the San Francisco Chronicle, Dow Jones MarketWatch and Business Insider, from the dot-com crash, the rise of cloud computing, social networking and AI to the impact of the Great Recession and the COVID crisis on Silicon Valley and beyond. He can be reached at bpimentel@protocol.com or via Google Voice at (925) 307-9342.

crypto regulationcrypto taxesbiden budgetcryptocurrency
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