Wyden wants tweaks to infrastructure bill’s cryptocurrency rules

The Blockchain Association, which represents cryptocurrency trading platforms, blockchain networks and investors, has been working to get the provisions dropped or narrowed. They say the language continues to be so broad that it could apply to businesses that represent only one step in the transaction process, don’t have customer relationships and couldn’t provide this sort of information to the IRS.

The group doesn’t want digital asset-related businesses added to the definition of broker at all, but would be open to similar requirements for information reporting on virtual currencies that Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network has proposed for banks and other payment services.

“While some minor improvements have been made, the latest language still poses fundamental concerns and questions about certain terms and definitions used in the provision,” Kristin Smith, executive director of the Blockchain Association, said in a statement Monday morning.

“As this bill continues to move through the Senate, we urge Senators to clarify that the language doesn’t capture non-custodial entities in the digital asset ecosystem,” she said, adding it remains unclear to the industry how the provision would apply.

The Blockchain Association and Chamber of Digital Commerce have been lobbying Senate offices to change the broker reporting pieces of the legislation. The requirement for reporting transactions over $10,000 appears to be the main revenue-raiser. Treasury had in its original proposal estimated that broker reporting rules would generate negligible revenue, while the $10,000 threshold was in a package of provisions expected to raise billions.