US Blockchain Association presents digital-asset tax proposal to Congress… “tax exemption for small transactions; taxation of staking”

The Blockchain Association, a lobbying group for the US digital-asset industry, has proposed a direction for digital-asset tax policy to Congress.

According to Cointelegraph on the 24th (local time), the Blockchain Association released a tax-policy position paper arguing that stablecoins should be treated like cash in everyday payments. It also proposed exempting “de minimis” digital-asset transactions below a certain amount from taxation.

The association said that “tax reporting on negligible gains and losses arising from routine transactions imposes excessive costs on taxpayers and overwhelms tax administration, while delivering little meaningful increase in tax revenue.”

However, it said it supports including mining and staking activities within the scope of capital gains taxation. It also backed applying the wash-sale rule to digital assets, supporting a measure that would allow loss deductions even if the same asset is repurchased.

The proposal comes as Congress continues discussions over how to tax digital assets. Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis introduced a bill in July last year centered on tax exemptions for certain digital-asset transactions, but it faced opposition from Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

Sen. Warren argued that a de minimis exemption could lead to about $5.8 billion in lost tax revenue in the United States. She also criticized a plan to exempt income reporting for digital-asset transactions of $300 or less.

The Blockchain Association stressed that the digital-asset tax reporting system should be designed to protect taxpayer privacy while still enabling enforcement against illicit activity. The association was also reported to have met with White House officials earlier this month to discuss a market-structure bill that includes rules on stablecoin rewards.