The updated bipartisan infrastructure bill under debate in the Senate, which will be financed in part by cryptocurrency transactions, now specifies that only persons that provide digital asset transfers would be treated as brokers.
What Happened: Decentralized exchanges are not included explicitly in the revised draft, as first noted by CoinDesk.
Even though the bill has been updated, there are reportedly no specific exclusions in place for miners, node operators, and software developers among others.
As per the bill’s new language “any person who (for consideration) is responsible for regularly providing any service effectuating transfers of digital assets on behalf of another person.”
In the early hours of Monday, Bitcoin BTC/USD traded 5.05% lower over 24 hours at $39,695.74. The apex cryptocurrency has failed to keep above the psychologically important $40,000 mark.
Why It Matters: The main issue surrounding the bill is reporting requirements of transactions and the imposition of existing tax rules on transactions such as those which arise from decentralized exchanges, according to CoinDesk.
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The bill’s older language would have reportedly snared parties like software developers, hardware manufacturers, and miners in the reporting dragnet.
Drew Nirenburg, a spokesperson for Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) who may have drafted the bill, said that “non brokers” would not have to comply with the reporting requirements, as per CoinDesk.
See also: IS ETHEREUM A GOOD INVESTMENT?
DeFi Chair at Blockchain Association and lawyer Jake Chervinsky came down on the provisions of the unrevised bill on Twitter. He said, “It defies logic to adopt a regulation for which compliance is literally impossible, unless the goal is to kill the industry.”
Chervinsky urged the cryptocurrency community to act while noting that it may be a “long fight.”
“This provision isn't final yet & still can be changed,” said Chervinsky — adding, “Even if it passes as-is, it shouldn't take effect until 2023 at earliest, so at least we'll have time to try to undo it, in Congress or the courts.”
On Sunday, Chervinsky took stock of the updated language of the bill on Twitter and said “we'll advocate for an amendment on the Senate floor. If that fails, we'll take our fight to the House.”
Read Next: Is Now The Time To Buy Ethereum As London Hard Fork Draws Closer?
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