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US Blockchain Association Urges Congress to Advance Digital

2026-10-23 01:16 · 3 sources

On October 22, the Blockchain Association of the United States sent a letter to the leadership of both chambers of Congress, urging the advancement of prudent, bipartisan digital asset tax legislation. The letter proposed principles such as a tax-exempt threshold for small transactions and taxation of mining and staking rewards upon disposal, and launched a public advocacy campaign. With Congress adjourned until after the November 3 elections, a legislative window still remains during the short session.

Event Timeline

Background and Impact

On October 22, Odaily at 14:07, PANews at 14:11, and Wu Blockchain at 17:00 each reported that the Blockchain Association (Blockchain Association) had sent a letter to the leadership of both the Senate and the House, urging Congress to advance prudent, bipartisan digital asset tax legislation. According to PANews, the association speaks on behalf of its more than 100 members; according to Wu Blockchain, the association simultaneously launched a public advocacy campaign encouraging citizens to express their views to members of Congress. The three reports were consistent on the core content of the letter but differed in detail: Wu Blockchain mentioned the advocacy campaign, while PANews listed more technical provisions. On the timeline, Congress is adjourned until after the November 3 elections, but a legislative window remains during the short session (Odaily).

Background: The association claims that approximately 67 million Americans hold and use digital assets, and that the current tax system leaves taxpayers facing uncertainty and heavy compliance burdens, while driving innovation overseas. Legislative procedures had already made progress: the House Ways and Means Committee had advanced digital asset tax-related bills, and Senator Steve Daines had introduced a Senate version (Odaily).

The tax principles proposed by the association include: establishing a meaningful minimum tax-exempt threshold for small digital asset transactions; treating mining and staking rewards as self-created (newly created) property, taxed upon disposal; filing arrangements that protect taxpayer privacy; determining tax treatment based on economic substance rather than technical form; and drafting wash-sale rules that prevent abuse without penalizing everyday activities. PANews additionally listed: treating stablecoins as cash and reducing Form 1099-DA filing requirements; limiting broker reporting obligations to intermediaries that custody or control client assets, excluding non-custodial developers and infrastructure participants; transfers between self-hosted wallets, smart contract interactions, and cross-chain transfers not triggering taxation when economic ownership has not changed; permitting mark-to-market accounting, expanding the applicability of staking in retirement accounts, and including blockchain development in R&D tax credits.

For market participants, if the above principles are incorporated into legislation, reporting standards and compliance costs could change. Currently, this remains at the advocacy stage, with no reports of legislation being passed. Users who need to retain on-chain and platform transaction records may refer to guidance information from platforms such as OKX, HTX, Gate.io, Bitget, and Binance to perform their own calculations.

FAQs

### Is the small transaction tax exemption threshold in effect now?

Not yet. It is currently only a principle-based proposal put forward by the Blockchain Association of the United States to Congress. The House Ways and Means Committee has advanced related bills, and Senator Steve Daines has introduced a Senate version, but the materials do not disclose the specific exemption amounts or a timeline for passage.

### What are the key timing milestones for Congress to advance the legislation?

According to Odaily, Congress is adjourned and will reconvene after the November 3 elections, with a legislative window remaining during the short session. None of the three reports provided a voting schedule; future developments should be based on official information from the Senate and the House.

### What proposed changes are there to the taxation of mining and staking rewards?

The association proposes treating mining and staking rewards as self-created (newly created) property, taxed only upon disposal rather than immediately upon receiving the rewards; it also advocates that transfers between self-hosted wallets, smart contract interactions, and cross-chain transfers should not trigger taxation when economic ownership has not changed.

Sources

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