• US Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has criticized President Biden’s proposed 30% tax on cryptocurrency miners, calling it a “blatant attempt by the administration to pick winners and losers”.
• The proposed Digital Asset Mining Energy excise tax would be implemented and phased in over three years.
•Senator Lummis is working with House Financial Services Committee Chair Patrick T. McHenry, R-N.C., and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on potentially breaking the bill apart into different committees to get it passed.
Sen. Lummis Criticizes Biden’s Crypto Tax Proposal
US Sen. Cynthia Lummis has criticized President Biden’s proposed 30 percent tax on cryptocurrency miners as a “blatant attempt by the administration to pick winners and losers.” The Wyoming Republican took to Twitter Thursday to express her disagreement with the proposal, which she had first mentioned at the Bitcoin 2023 conference in Miami last week saying “that isn’t going to happen.”
Details of Proposed Tax
Dubbed the Digital Asset Mining Energy excise tax (DAME), the proposal from the Biden Administration would be implemented next year in stages over three years, reaching its target rate of 30 percent by 2026. This percentage would be calculated based on electricity used by crypto-mining firms.
Responsible Innovation Act
Senators Lummis and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) are planning to reintroduce their Responsible Innovation Act within the next month with added customer protections. The bill is designed to take a comprehensive approach towards regulating cryptocurrency but may be split up into various committees for easier passage in Congress according to Represntatives Patrick T. McHenry (R-NC) and Maxine Waters (D-CA).
Lummis’ Commitment
The Senator has pledged not to let President Biden “tax the digital asset industry out of existence” and tweeted that America must welcome innovation as digital assets are “the future of financial innovation.”
Conclusion
President Biden’s proposed crypto mining tax continues to draw criticism from US Sen. Cynthia Lummis who argues that it will unfairly select winners and losers in an industry that could shape financial innovation for years ahead. With her Responsible Innovation Act set for reintroduction soon, Sen. Lummis remains committed to protecting cryptocurrency miners from what she views as an unjust taxation policy that could have serious consequences for industry players if enacted as planned.