The Rising Crypto Influence in Washington, Compromise Reached on Tax Provision

At the end of the day, it was a compromise--an agreement to who exactly is a 'broker' in crypto circles and the contribution of the sphere in financing the 'heavy' infrastructure bill.

The earlier proposal included in the Infrastructure Bill was vague, specifically added to the mix to raise revenue to the infrastructure projects to the tune of $28 billion—as per original estimates. Accordingly, it required cryptocurrency exchanges and 'brokers' to report all forms of digital asset transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). 

This definition was contested, with crypto lobbyists saying this would threaten the industry's existence in the U.S. 

Yesterday's agreement in the Senate highlighted the speed at which the sphere has grown and influenced and the size of its reach, touching to the very echelons of power in the U.S.

The compromise came as a breather, an acknowledgment that crypto is indeed a growing force too hard to ignore even for hard-liners, bent on crushing a disruptive and growing industry.

And regardless of how it turns out come Thursday, Senator Lummis says yesterday's events were "a very positive exercise for people in the cryptocurrency and digital asset space”.