Senate Committee to Hold Hearing on Crypto Taxation on October 1

The Senate Finance Committee will hold a crypto taxation hearing as the Trump administration continues to work towards providing regulatory clarity for the crypto industry. Crypto stakeholders will be among the witnesses during the hearing and will give their thoughts on how the U.S. should proceed in taxing crypto transactions.

Senate Finance Committee Announces Crypto Taxation Hearing

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo announced in a press release that they will convene a hearing entitled “Examining the Taxation of Digital Assets” on Wednesday, October 1. Witnesses for the hearing include Lawrence Zlatkin, Vice President of Tax at Coinbase Global, and Jason Somensatto, Director of Policy at Coin Center.

The proposed crypto tax hearing follows an earlier request for information from the committee, in which they asked the public for comments on digital assets and how they could fit into existing laws, or if there was a need for new legislation.

Notably, this hearing could build on the White House crypto policy report, which made recommendations on the taxation of digital assets. Trump’s Digital Asset Working Group had urged Congress to treat crypto assets as a new asset class, subject to modified versions of tax rules that apply to commodities and securities.

Pro-crypto Senator Cynthia Lummis has also proposed a crypto tax bill that will reduce tax on Bitcoin transactions and eliminate double taxation. She also proposed a de minimis exemption on transactions below $300.

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that there is still a possibility that the crypto tax hearing may be delayed due to a looming government shutdown. Lawmakers have until September 30 to either pass a short-term funding bill or the funding bills for the fiscal year.

The crypto market structure markup is already facing a delay, partly due to this looming government shutdown. The markup is likely to hold in the latter part of October, as opposed to the initial schedule for September 30.