US Senator Cynthia Lummis is not a fan of President Biden’s proposed 30 percent tax on cryptocurrency miners.
“It’s not going to happen,” the Wyoming Republican and crypto enthusiast said Friday at Bitcoin Conference 2023 in Miami
There are environmental benefits, including “off-gassing and grid stabilization,” Lammis said.
What tax?
In March the Biden administration proposed a so-called Digital Asset Mining Energy, or DAME, excise tax in its fiscal year 2024 budget.
Under the proposal, firms would face a 30 percent tax on the cost of electricity used.
According to previous reportsthe tax will be introduced next year and phased in over three years at a rate of 10 percent per year, before reaching a target rate of 30 percent by the end of 2026.
Future legislation
Lummis also spoke about her bill with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y. called the Responsible Innovation Act, introduced last year, which takes a comprehensive approach to cryptocurrency regulation.
Lammis told the conference that the bill will be reintroduced next month with some changes, such as adding more consumer protections.
The bipartisan pair is working with House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick T. McHenry, RN.C., and Maxine Waters, R-Calif., on potentially breaking the bill into different committees to pass it, Lummis said.
During Thursday’s hearing, Democrats and Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee were divided on how to regulate stablecoins.
Chairman McHenry, R.N.C., and the committee’s former chairman, Rep. Waters, worked together on the bill last year, but two stablecoins emerged ahead of Thursday’s hearing.
“We expect the House to move the stablecoin bill first, and then you’ll probably see Lummis Gillibrand’s introduction in the Senate, which will remain comprehensive,” Lummis said.
Lummis clarified when asked if she was waiting to introduce her bill until the stablecoin bill was worked out in the House of Representatives.
“We don’t,” Lummis said.
