A proposed amendment to the bipartisan infrastructure legislation, introduced by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Mark Warner (D-VA), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), could dramatically harm the cryptocurrency industry, according to various officials.
The measure would increase IRS reporting requirements for the cryptocurrency industry, a move that could potentially hurt American innovation.
Jerry Brito, the executive director of the cryptocurrency think tank Coin Center, slammed the proposed amendment, calling it “disastrous.”
Wow. Sen. Warner and Portman are proposing a last minute amendment competing with the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey amendment. It is a disastrous. It only excludes proof-of-work mining. And it does nothing for software devs. Ridiculous!
Here is all it excludes: pic.twitter.com/FA7K6NU2s0
— Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) August 5, 2021
Ohio GOP Senate candidate J.D. Vance, who is running to replace Portman, slammed the potential legislation and urged lawmakers to support a separate amendment.
“The Biden endorsed, Portman-Warner-Sinema amendment being proposed in the infrastructure bill to regulate cryptocurrencies picks Big Tech as the winners, and Ohioans are the losers. Not only would this lead to mass surveillance of those in the cryptocurrency community, experts in the field warn that it could amount to a backdoor ban of Bitcoin and other popular cryptocurrencies,” Vance said in a statement.
Further, Vance argued the Portman amendment would stifle the community that houses conservatives and “free thinkers.”
“It is one of the few sectors of our economy where conservatives and other free thinkers can operate without pressure from the social justice mob. This amendment threatens that community, which makes it an assault on the idea that our economy should be about making things instead of enforcing progressive dogma,” GOP Senate candidate Vance continued.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) August 6, 2021
Many federal officials and leaders have come out in support of a rival amendment introduced by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Ron Wyden (D-OR).
A host of House lawmakers, including Warren Davidson (R-OH-08), penned a letter to Senators in support of the Lummis amendment, arguing the contrary would “push a rapidly growing industry off American shores.”
“That is why we support the bipartisan Wyden-Lummis-Toomey Amendment which removes the obligation of crypto network participants to report on customer data and information that they do not have access to,” the group wrote.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
