The newly passed Infrastructure bill in the United States of America has been attacked for its blatant anti-crypto stance from the very beginning. Among all the anti-crypto clauses, the most shocking was the taxation requirement. Within that, the ambiguity of terms left crypto investors both confused and fearful.
A few senators offered their help to try to amend the bill as soon as it was passed. Similar efforts were squashed before the Senate passed the bill. However, this time the pro-crypto lobby seems to have an edge. A bipartisan group of US senators has asked Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to specify what is a ‘broker’ means in the context of cryptocurrency exchanges. It is a very important question to which the bill provides no answer.
The definition of a broker will determine who will pay taxes and at what rates. The present broad definition includes a lot of people who do not traditionally qualify as brokers. However, they will continue to pay higher taxes because of the arbitrary law. Janet Yellen is yet to respond to the open letter sent by the senators, and it is unlikely that she has any new information to add here.
The Infrastructure bill stands in the way of many innovations in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. If the present bill is not amended to address issues pertaining to these sectors, it will make running crypto-related firms in the US extremely difficult.
