Senator Lummis says reconciliation is crypto’s shot to end double taxation

Senator Cynthia Lummis believes reconciliation is the best strategy at the moment to end the unfair double tax on digital assets.

In an X post, she commented, “Reconciliation is our chance to fix crypto provisions that unfairly double tax bitcoin and digital assets.”

In another post, Lummis argued that the current US tax system is antiquated and only stifles growth in the crypto industry.

Cynthia Lummis argues that lawmakers should consider reconciliation

Lummis argued that Bitcoin miners will particularly bear the brunt of double taxation, being hit once on block rewards and again when they sell their coins.

She added that DeFi users also stand to face multiple taxable events without realizing any profits. While she did not directly mention which unfair tax regulations would cause this, analysts peg her comments to the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

The act categorizes all crypto miners and developers as “brokers.” That means they must report details they often don’t have, such as user identities and transaction data, and are subject to more taxation.

Lummis has asked Congress to resolve the problem using reconciliation, allowing tax changes to pass with a simple majority. She would like the “broker” term adjusted to alleviate the burden on digital asset miners and developers. The changes could include exemptions for non-custodial actors like developers and protocol operators.

Aside from Lummis, some miners also voiced their concerns about the broker definition, arguing that it inaccurately portrays their role since they neither manage user transactions nor control customer funds.

GENIUS Act passed a key vote in the US Senate

The Republican senator has also shown her support for the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoin or GENIUS Act, which recently passed a key vote in the US Senate. The bill is moving to the next stage after a 68-30 vote. 

On Wednesday, Majority Leader John Thune called his fellow lawmakers to support the bill. He raised some of President Donald Trump’s main talking points on cryptocurrencies, particularly the idea that the legislation would solidify the US position as the “crypto capital of the world.” He added that the act would help grow crypto adoption in the country. 

Senator Lummis appreciated Thune’s speech on the Senate floor on Wednesday, acknowledging that he understands crypto regulation’s vitality and even praised him for “visionary leadership.”

Speaking on the Senate floor, however, Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized the GENIUS Act, stating that key issues remained unresolved due to the chamber’s failure to consider several bipartisan amendments. She also spoke on the president’s ties to his family crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, voicing the concerns of many other democrats.

Meanwhile, the CLARITY Act is still under discussion. Thune still believes they could do more for the crypto industry, throwing his weight behind the bill to define the market structure for crypto assets. On Tuesday, the House Financial Services lawmakers voted 32 to 19 to send the CLARITY Act to a full floor vote shortly after the Agriculture Committee approved it with a 47–6 vote.