A bipartisan group of US legislators introduced a bill to amend the provisions on crypto in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which President Joe Biden signed into law on Monday. They introduced the “Keep Innovation in America Act” today. It will amend the definition of a crypto broker in the new law.
The bill, which was introduced by Representative Patrick McHenry, Tim Ryan, and several others, also aims to address transactions between brokers and non-brokers and change a provision of the new law that amends section 6050I in the tax code.
Patrick McHenry said:
On the one hand, we have the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that President Biden signed into law on Monday. It includes digital asset reporting requirements that threaten to push innovators and entrepreneurs overseas. This would leave the U.S. as a passive observer of a rapidly evolving industry. On the other hand, we can fix these poorly constructed standards and ensure they are compatible with how this new technology actually works.
A controversial, but lucrative provision?
The infrastructure bill contains a provision to extend the definition of a broker for the purpose of crypto tax reporting, which caused wrath in the crypto community over concerns that the definition might cover software developers or wallet manufacturers, who would be unable to comply with the tax reporting requirements. In the next 10 years, the provision could bring almost $30 billion to the treasury.
Maintaining KYC information from senders
The provision amending section 6050I would require transaction recipients to keep this data from the senders. Today’s bill would amend both of these provisions. Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis, both of whom wanted to limit the scope of the definition, introduced their own bill to exempt non-custodial product vendors and blockchain validators from the law on Monday.
Yesterday, Lummis tweeted a photo of the purported Senate version of the “Keep Innovation in America Act.” Ryan said:
We have to figure out how to balance consumer protections and reasonable oversight while simultaneously providing these technologies and companies with the necessary space they need to grow, innovate and democratize the financial sector.
The Crypto Council for Innovation, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Coin Center, the Blockchain Association, the Association for Digital Asset Markets, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and the Chamber of Digital Commerce all made statements in support of the newest bill.
