US Senate to decide on American crypto industry

Who could have thought that a major piece of American legislation would be stuck in the Senate because of… a crypto-related issue?
And yet that’s what’s happening with Biden’s gigantic $550Bn infrastructure bill, which includes an obligation for “brokers”’ to report the details on crypto transfers. The main problem is to define what a “broker” is, and the original language was so broad that it could include virtually everyone interacting with crypto, be it a miner, a wallet, or a programmer… And for the majority of them it would be technically impossible to comply with such reporting obligations.

Several pro-crypto Senators stepped in and proposed an amendment with a narrower “broker” definition, but a second amendment by the anti-crypto Senators only leaved miners out of it (maybe it’s the one side of crypto they understand ?..) This second amendment was supported by the Biden administration and the person who really should not speak up on crypto – Janet Yellen from Treasury.

The vote is today. If the second amendment passes, it would mean that DeFi industry, PoS blockchain validators, and a big number of diverse crypto companies will not be able to comply with the law and will have to either close shop or move someplace else. It’s an important moment for the US crypto industry, and every crypto company is now reaching out to its American users, asking them to call their Senators and make their voice heard.

We’ll see if democracy still works, or the grey-haired “public” servants manage to strangle it.