According to Coinbase, the crypto provision part of the infrastructure bill may affect up to 20% of the US population.
The global VP of tax at Coinbase, Lawrence Zlatkin, has criticized the rushed amendments into the infrastructure bill to impact a significant population.
A Bloomberg article on Thursday was praising the bill’s crypto provisions while neglecting its repercussions. Zlatkin criticized the blog as the bill did not give a chance to the public for discourse, keeping in mind that there are up to 20% of the total US population invested in crypto assets. Since it is a fifth of the population, they should not be ignored and deserve dialogue.
Coincidentally, It is not only Zlatkin that thinks the crypto community was taken for granted. There has been a vast roar from the public, and not only from the crypto community. About 80K people contacted some senators in a few days.
As much as the bill has been created for the interest of a typical user, some definitions are raising eyebrows. The bill’s definition of a crypto broker may mean stringent reporting requirements on miners and developers, which may be hard to comply with.
Non-compliance will push many out of the business as it is easy to go bankrupt. Many developers, miners and stakers will be sidelined, posing an operational risk. This will, in turn, affect innovation and the industry at large.
According to Zlatkin, tax policy should be more considerate as it will impact many people. In his opinion, the reporting requirements for crypto brokers should be the same as that of mainstream brokerage firms.
The Senate passed the infrastructure bill early in the month. Many are hopeful the bill will work for their excellence, and there is room for amendments and scrutiny in future.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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