Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
United States

Senators Propose Exclusion of Miners, Software Developers in Infrastructure Bill's Crypto 'Broker' Definition (theblockcrypto.com) 25

A trio of U.S. senators is proposing a legislative exclusion for crypto companies, including miners and software developers, from a tax reporting provision in a long-in-the-making bipartisan infrastructure bill. From a report: The Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment, made public Wednesday, comes days after it first emerged that the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill included language aimed at tightening reporting requirements for "brokers" in the digital asset space. But critics quickly highlighted the vague language used in the provision, which they said could subject companies not involved in the actual brokerage of digital assets to overly burdensome regulation.

The push to amend the existing language won some key allies in the Senate in the days that followed, resulting in today's Senate amendment. Over the weekend, Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote that the initial language was "an attempt to apply brick and mortar rules to the internet and fails to understand how the technology works." Sen. Rob Portman, a leading author of the infrastructure bill, defended the provision on Thursday, writing on Twitter that "the legislation does not impose new reporting requirements on software developers, crypto miners, node operators or other non-brokers."

This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Senators Propose Exclusion of Miners, Software Developers in Infrastructure Bill's Crypto 'Broker' Definition

Comments Filter:
  • I understand the political motivations of shoving every little Christmas present into the larger 'must have' bills like defense spending, and this infrastructure bill, but how can a member of congress like Cynthia Lummis (R) Wyoming, complain bitterly about the Biden administration twisting 'infrastructure' to include things like childcare, while crypto is somehow part of infrastructure?

    Can't we keep infrastructure as roads, bridges, railways, bikeways, water, sewer, electrical grid, etc. And just find an

    • by ASDFnz ( 472824 )

      The long and short of it is that money service (banking, remittances etc) ARE more defiantly infrastructure in any countries economy.

      The issue with the bill as written is that what they are asking for crypto to do in the infrastructure bill just isn't possible & worded like a maze.

      • Very defiant indeed.

      • Ok - what isn't infrastructure?

        • by ASDFnz ( 472824 )

          Ok - what isn't infrastructure?

          From the deffinition:

          the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power supplies) needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
          "the social and economic infrastructure of a country"

          So, your personal swimming pool is not infultructure but a public one is. The same goes for financial services as well, the ability to make transactions between parties is infrastructure while your personal bank balance isn't (a lot of politicians fall over on this one).

          • 'ability to make transactions between parties is infrastructure '

            Wha? You mean the systems, networks, specifications, and agreements necessary to enable payments, like cash registers/deposit bags/bank branches for physical currency, and payment networks/POS systems and terminals/internetworks to enable virtual (that's what they are) payments?

            This bill should have been focused on 'public infrastructure'. Ya don't need to finance payment processors, they can pay for their systems through fees just fine, and a

    • It's in the "pay fors" part of the bill. Basically, how do you pay for all the stuff in the bill? Modify or add taxes, duh.

    • Because Republicans only care about children until they're born. As soon as you can survive without tether, you're on your own.

    • Welcome to tribalism hypocrisy. Both parties do it. This is that stuff they call PORK.
    • ... how can a member of congress like Cynthia Lummis (R) Wyoming, complain bitterly about the Biden administration twisting 'infrastructure' to include things like childcare, while crypto is somehow part of infrastructure?...

      Seriously? Lummis didn't put crypto into the bill. The amendment that Lummis, Wyden, and Toomey are proposing would *reduce* the effect of this "infrastructure" bill on crypto.

    • by Cederic ( 9623 )

      I find the entire process corrupt and distasteful.

      The US needs to look at how other countries create and modify laws. Simple focussed legislation that addresses a single topic, written in plain English accessible to the public, read thoroughly and properly scrutinised prior to debate, amendable through the process and voted on by people who have had the chance to understand what they're voting for.

      I'm not sure any of that applies in the US.

  • So, anyone under 18?

    Miners not minors! [youtube.com]

    You lost me.

  • but not in the USA. They have capital punishment for graft in China. Graft is defined as any personal gain from a position of public trust. Any official caught with gaiing any value in excess of RMB 3m which is not very much in USD ($400k) - any number of officials from 2017 to Jan 2021 in the top of US executive branch have been shown to personally benefited that much from the position of public trust, including the highest officer in the US. I won't be surprised that many public officials in the US ar
    • " Any official caught'

      And there you have it.

      • by stikves ( 127823 )

        Any official not in good graces with the party.

        Let us not kid ourselves, finding a clean politician is a very rare event. I could have compared this to certain other professions.

        (Almost) all politicians will use their power for personal benefit. Even if they did not, the nephew will pull the "do you know how is my uncle?" card.

"Conversion, fastidious Goddess, loves blood better than brick, and feasts most subtly on the human will." -- Virginia Woolf, "Mrs. Dalloway"

Working...