As the crypto market structure bill moves through the Senate, industry leaders have embarked on a concerted effort to advance separate tax-related priorities in Congress and within Donald Trump’s administration.
On Monday, a powerful industry nonprofit, the American Innovation Project, hosted a private dinner with members of the House of Representatives to “educate” lawmakers on issues related to crypto tax policy and highlight “the lack of clarity” surrounding the issue, sources with direct knowledge of the meeting said. Declutter.
The dinner included members of the tax-focused House Ways and Means Committee, including Adrian Smith (R-NE), Brendan Boyle (D-PA), Greg Murphy (R-NC), Tom Suozzi (D-NY), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), Ron Estes (R-KS) and Mike Carey (R-OH), the sources said.
Pro-crypto lawmakers, including Rep. Zach Nunn (R-IA), a member of both the House Agriculture and Financial Services committees, were also in attendance.
Representatives for the members of Congress did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Declutter as for dinner.
The group behind the event, also known as AIP, also hosted a dinner last week for key Capitol Hill staffers on the same issues, the sources said. AIP is one new non-profit organization backed by some of crypto’s biggest DC players, including Coinbase, Andreessen Horowitz, Paradigm, the Solana Policy Institute, and the Cedar Innovation Foundation, a pro-crypto dark money political spending group.
As a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, AIP is prohibited by law from “operating for the benefit of private interests” or “attempting to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities.” AIP members urged it Declutter that the tax-oriented dinners focused on general education, rather than policy objectives.
But concurrent with these events, the same players behind AIP are preparing to advance their crypto tax policy goals both in Congress and at the executive level.
On Thursday, the Solana Policy Institute, along with Paradigm and more than 60 other crypto organizations, sent out a message letter to the White House imploring President Donald Trump to take swift action on numerous “quick wins” that the groups said could be achieved immediately by his administration.
A crypto policy manager familiar with the thinking behind the letter said it Declutter it was intended to encourage the Trump administration to focus on crypto-related goals that are achievable with the “stroke of a pen.” According to the source, tax policy is at the top of that wish list.
“Taxes are high on the list,” they emphasized. “That should be at the top of the agenda.”
The two top-priority tax issues the crypto industry is now pushing for are a de minimis exemption — which would eliminate taxes on small sales of crypto and everyday purchases involving cryptocurrencies — and favorable tax policies on cryptocurrency staking rewards, the executive added.
Crypto staking refers to the process of pledging a certain amount of cryptocurrency to a network or protocol, thereby securing the network or providing liquidity, and earning a return on the amount pledged. The question of exactly when to tax these rewards – when they are earned or when they are sold – has been a controversial topic for tax policy experts and regulators for years.
The same groups behind AIP are now gearing up to actively push these crypto tax goals in Congress.
The groups support pro-crypto lawmakers in the Senate, including Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), who repeated their commitment to a de minimis tax exemption. They are also at work in the House of Representatives, where the Ways and Means Committee – which was well represented at AIP’s membership dinner this week – is spearheading efforts to craft tax-related crypto legislation.
Daily debriefing Newsletter
Start every day with today’s top news stories, plus original articles, a podcast, videos and more.
