"Taxes—not tech—are blocking Bitcoin payments"…policy barriers flagged

A growing view is that the biggest reason Bitcoin (BTC) has failed to spread as a payment method is not technology but the tax system. While technology to improve settlement speed and fees has already matured, tax policy is said to be standing in the way of real-world use.

According to Cointelegraph on the 24th (local time), Pierre Rochard, a board member at Bitcoin treasury firm Strive, said, "The biggest obstacle to Bitcoin payments is tax policy, not scaling technology." He added, "Even if you have the best players, you can’t win if they don’t get on the field," using the analogy to describe why Bitcoin is not being used as a payment method.

Under current U.S. tax law, using Bitcoin for payments makes every transaction taxable. Critics have long noted that even small purchases require capital gains calculations, making it difficult to use Bitcoin for everyday payments. The Bitcoin Policy Institute, a Bitcoin policy research group, previously warned that the lack of a de minimis exemption for small transactions as of December 2025 is a key obstacle to the expansion of Bitcoin payments.

In the U.S. Congress, discussions are under way on tax exemptions for small virtual-asset transactions, but some bills are being reviewed in a way that would apply exemptions only to dollar-pegged stablecoins. The Bitcoin community has pushed back, arguing that a tax framework that excludes Bitcoin is inappropriate.

Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced legislation in July 2025 to exempt small crypto-asset transactions from taxation. The bill would exempt transactions of $300 or less and set an annual exemption cap at $5,000. It also includes a provision to defer taxation on income generated through mining and staking until the assets are disposed of.

Calls for tax reform are also emerging from the payments industry. Jack Dorsey, who leads payments company Square, said, "I hope Bitcoin becomes an everyday currency as soon as possible," and publicly urged a tax exemption for small Bitcoin transactions. By contrast, Marty Bent, co-founder of the pro-Bitcoin outlet TFTC, criticized discussions of exemptions limited to stablecoins as "nonsensical."

The market view is that without tax-system improvements preceding payment infrastructure, the spread of Bitcoin as a payment method will remain limited. Analysts say the gap between Bitcoin’s technical readiness and the policy environment is still wide.