Bipartisan infrastructure bill continues to attract a heated discussion within the crypto community amid its last minute controversial crypto tax amendments that are likely to impact most cryptocurrency users in the United States.
Coinbase has taken that opportunity to slam the US Congress for hastily inserting cryptocurrency provisions to the initially proposed infrastructure deal at the last-minute. The exchange argued that the move could impact over 60 million Americans which translates to around 20% of the country’s population.
In an August 21 blog post retaliating to an initial August 19 editorial article that praised crypto provisions in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, Lawrence Zlatkin, global VP of tax at Coinbase, criticized the proposed infrastructure bill over lack of open opportunities for public discourse regarding the legislation. He asserted that 20% of the United States population has invested in digital assets:
“Today, around 60 million Americans own crypto — roughly one-fifth of the entire U.S. population. Those Americans, and the entire crypto ecosystem, deserve more dialogue than midnight provisions inserted at the last minute.”
In the same context, Zlatkin has noted that outrage over the bill’s language extended beyond the confines of the crypto industry, citing that the popular “public outcry” that saw senators contacted by over 80,000 people “over few days.”
Notably, the Coinbase executive insisted on a broad definition of a digital asset “broker” included in the bill, which could impose more stringent reporting requirements on network validators and software developers who fail to comply with their obligations under the bill’s current form, stating:
“As long as the statute says that software developers, miners, stakers must do the impossible, there is no lawyer who would advise them to risk operating in violation of laws whose penalties for non-compliance would easily bankrupt them.”
He added:
“This will harm innovation and stifle the potential of a hugely important technology at its earliest stages of development […] Tax policy should be thoughtful and deliberate. Broad overreach is a regulatory mistake.”
Zlatkin maintained that the digital asset brokers should be similarly subjected to the third-party reporting requirements as mainstream brokerage firms.
In the meantime, the proposed controversial infrastructure bill was passed by the Senate earlier this month. However, onlookers strongly believe that there may be open opportunities to amend the legislation as it moves to the House of Representatives for intense scrutiny in the coming months.
