GuShiio.com The upcoming vote is seen as a touchstone for Capitol Hill’s changing stance on Crypto innovation.
Source: cryptosatellite
Compilation: Blockchain Knight
U.S. lawmakers are preparing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) to challenge the IRS’s broker rules that require DeFi participants to report user data to the IRS.
Fox Business Channel reporter Eleanor Terrett revealed on March 4 that Republican Senator Ted Cruz is taking the lead in promoting the introduction of the CRA. The preliminary vote was originally scheduled for March 5, but due to scheduling conflicts, including the upcoming State of the Union speech, the vote may be postponed.
According to Terrett,”If this CRA is passed by a simple majority in both houses of the House and Senate, it will abolish the broker rule of the IRS, a subsidiary of the U.S. Treasury.” The rule expands the definition of “broker” to include DeFi developers. CRA supporters say the current rules are not suitable for the unique nature of DeFi.”
The IRS broker rules were finalized last year, introducing new tax reporting requirements for entities that handle digital assets.
The rule classifies brokers, including DeFi front-ends, as entities responsible for tracking user activity, reporting transactions, and implementing compliance measures. The rule also requires DeFi platforms to implement a “Know Your Customer”(KYC) process.
In addition, the regulatory requirement applies to all digital assets, including NFTs and stablecoins.
The White House supports the move, and Crypto asset affairs director David Sacks issued a public statement on Tuesday, saying that “the so-called broker DeFi rule is a last-minute attack on the Crypto community by the Biden administration.”
Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director of the Crypto asset think tank Coin Center, criticized the rule for treating software developers and infrastructure providers as brokers.
He argued that implementing such measures would undermine privacy rights, ignore bipartisan concerns, and hinder technological progress.
In view of this, Valkenburgh emphasized that the results of this vote will be an early indicator of how the U.S. government treats digital asset regulation in the coming years.
“There has been talk of a new Congress taking a more friendly stance on Crypto assets; this vote will be the decisive first test of that theory,” he said.
At the same time, revoking the rule would be consistent with the Donald Trump administration’s broader pro-Crypto asset stance and strengthen the growing influence of pro-Crypto asset lawmakers.
