Association Representing More Than 100 Companies Urges Congress to Update Digital Asset Taxes

Key Facts

The Blockchain Association urged the U.S. Congress to update tax rules for digital assets, saying current policy “needs updating and is unworkable.” The association sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. It is calling for a clearer tax framework for digital asset users. Association policy official Lindsay Fraser said users want to comply with the law, but existing rules are “often unclear and unworkable.” The association represents more than 100 companies in the cryptocurrency sector, according to The Block.

The association outlined a set of changes it wants included in tax legislation. Its requests include an exemption for small transactions, privacy protections for taxpayers and expanded wash-sale rules to cover cryptocurrencies. The exemption request puts small transactions under review, while the other proposals address how wash-sale and privacy rules apply to digital assets. The requests come as the House has passed a tax bill that already includes a limited exemption for network fees. The letter, however, calls on Congress to address a broader package of tax issues related to digital assets.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Clarity Act in September and voted on September 16, 2026, to advance it to the full House by a vote of 38 to 5. The bill includes a tax exemption for network fees of $10 or less. The committee said the IRS received hundreds of millions of 1099-DA forms during 2025, many of them related to transactions worth less than $10. The committee cited this volume to justify reducing reporting burdens for small transactions. That puts the fee exemption at the center of efforts to address the burden of forms and low-value transactions, alongside the broader requests made by the association.

The House bill also addresses reporting rules for digital asset transactions, expands wash-sale and constructive-sale rules, covers the tax treatment of mining and staking, and establishes a voluntary disclosure program specifically for digital assets. The bill treats mining and staking income as ordinary income. The current version, however, does not settle when that income must be recognized, after an option to defer it was removed from an earlier version. The committee said the bill applies existing anti-abuse tax rules, including wash-sale and constructive-sale rules. The bill thus combines reporting changes with tax treatment for digital asset activities, while the timing of recognizing mining and staking income remains unresolved in its current text.

The push for tax legislation is proceeding as the CLARITY Act has stalled in the Senate. The bill failed its first procedural vote in September, after which its progress in the chamber halted. This means the House tax bill and the CLARITY Act face different legislative paths, with the tax bill further along at the House committee level. The House was not expected to take up the tax bill again until after the November elections. The bill’s next step is therefore tied to its return for consideration after the elections, according to The Block.