A major blockchain trade association vowed Monday to fight crypto-related provisions in the infrastructure bill which it said would harm the industry.
The $1 trillion infrastructure bill, which the House passed on Friday and which President Biden is expected to sign this week, includes tax reporting requirements for brokers in the crypto industry that critics say are too broad, and would cover miners, node operators and software developers who maintain the blockchain networks.
Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association, which includes major crypto companies like Anchorage Digital, Genesis, Ledger, Ripple and Solana, said the organization will continue lobbying to have the provisions changed.
"We may have lost the battle to remove these provisions from the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but this fight jolted a sleeping giant," she told Protocol.
An effort to change the crypto provisions in the bill, led by Sen. Cynthia Lummis, failed. However, how the provisions will be implemented remains unclear. The Treasury Department reportedly does not plan to require crypto miners, node operators and software developers to report transactions to the IRS.
But Smith suggested the organization will mobilize to push for the provisions to be changed. "We'll have more resources, more brilliant minds and more boots on the ground to fight harmful regulation and legislation moving forward," she said.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE