US Congress Initiates Cryptocurrency Tax Reform... "Stablecoin Payments Under $200 Exempt from Tax"

▲ Stablecoin, US Dollar (USD)/AI-generated image

The U.S. Congress has announced a bipartisan closed-door meeting to overhaul the cryptocurrency tax system, accelerating discussions on tax reforms related to staking, mining, and stablecoin payments.

Bitcoin.com reported on May 12 (local time) that the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to hold a bipartisan closed-door meeting on May 14 to discuss cryptocurrency tax regulations. As the Senate Banking Committee is set to vote on a U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill on the same day, May 14 is considered a significant turning point in U.S. cryptocurrency policy discussions.

The main agenda item for this House meeting is the Digital Asset PARITY Act, introduced by Republican Representative Max Miller and Democratic Representative Steven Horsford. Both representatives are members of the House Ways and Means Committee. This bill directly targets several tax structures that the cryptocurrency industry has long demanded to be reformed.

First, it includes provisions to close the wash sale loophole for digital assets. Under current U.S. tax law, investors can claim tax deductions even if they sell digital assets at a loss and immediately repurchase them. This is because, unlike the general wash sale rules applied to stock investors, the same restrictions have not been applied to cryptocurrencies. The Digital Asset PARITY Act aims to apply the same restrictions to cryptocurrencies, thereby aligning tax fairness with traditional financial investors.

Instead, it includes provisions to ease the tax burden on staking and mining income. Under current Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulations, validators are taxed on staking rewards as ordinary income at the moment they receive the tokens, even if they have not yet cashed them out. The Digital Asset PARITY Act proposes a direction where miners and validators can defer taxes on staking rewards for up to five years or until the point of sale, making the actual realization moment the basis for taxation.

A de minimis tax exemption for stablecoin payments is also included. The bill exempts capital gains tax for transactions under $200 made with stablecoins issued by companies compliant with the GENIUS (Stablecoin Regulation Act). Currently, it has been pointed out that even small payments require capital gains calculations for each transaction, making it difficult to use stablecoins as an everyday payment method.

Representative Miller expects the bill to advance before August 2026. The U.S. Senate is pursuing market structure reform, while the House is simultaneously pushing for tax reform. As discussions on cryptocurrency taxation intensify, the U.S. digital asset market has entered a phase of simultaneously overhauling its regulatory and tax frameworks.

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