House Ways and Means Committee opens debate on the most sweeping digital asset tax overhaul in over a decade
The U.S. House of Representatives took its most substantive step yet toward overhauling the taxation of digital assets this week, as the House Ways and Means Committee held a full hearing on a package of seven draft bills that could fundamentally reshape how crypto investors, miners, stakers, and everyday users interact with the tax code.
The committee convened the session on June 9, 2026, with Chairman Jason Smith announcing the hearing on June 2. The seven discussion-draft bills collectively address pain points that crypto users have been raising for years — from de minimis exemptions on small transactions to staking reward deferrals and wash sale rule extensions.
In his opening statement, Smith declared the current situation untenable: “America needs clear tax rules of the road to remain the crypto capital of the world.” He noted that roughly a quarter of Americans — over 67 million people — now own cryptocurrency, a dramatic increase from just 3% at the start of the decade.
Seven Bills, One Strategy
The Ways and Means Committee is preparing legislation that would grant cryptocurrency holders greater flexibility in reporting gains on investments. Smith has made establishing a framework for the taxation of digital assets a top priority for the committee.
Rather than consolidating all reforms into a single omnibus bill, the decision to advance seven separate drafts is a deliberate tactical choice. Breaking the issues apart makes it easier to build coalitions around individual provisions — a lawmaker opposed to wash sale changes could still support de minimis relief without voting against an entire package.
The package follows the bipartisan Digital Asset PARITY Act, formally introduced on May 19 by Reps. Max Miller (R-Ohio) and Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), which would largely exempt payment stablecoins from tax reporting requirements unless a gain or loss exceeds 1% of the asset’s value.
U.S. Congress Proposes New Tax Rules For Digital Assets
The De Minimis Problem
Among the most closely watched proposals is the de minimis exemption. Under current law, every crypto transaction — including a small everyday purchase — triggers a taxable event requiring gain-and-loss calculation, a compliance burden long cited as the primary obstacle to crypto functioning as a practical medium of exchange.
The House’s current de minimis proposal, contained in the “Less Tax Paperwork for Digital Asset Owners Act,” is narrow: it exempts crypto network gas fees under $10, capped at 5,000 transactions per taxpayer per year. Buying goods or services with Bitcoin, ETH, or a stablecoin remains a fully reportable taxable event. The Senate’s competing bill from Sen. Cynthia Lummis proposes a broader $300 per-transaction threshold with a $5,000 annual cap — a gap between the two chambers that will require resolution before any final legislation can pass.
Kevin Wysocki, Anchorage Digital’s head of policy
Mining, Staking, and the Double-Tax Fix
A second key proposal would defer taxes on mining and staking rewards until the assets are sold, rather than taxing them at the point of receipt — eliminating the double-taxation scenario that has frustrated validators and miners for years.
That provision, however, drew pointed objections. Witness Mike Kaercher of the Tax Law Center at NYU Law argued the deferral “violates parity with traditional finance,” warning it could allow some taxpayers to permanently escape taxation through certain business structures. Democrats on the committee raised significant concerns about the potential for deferred taxation of mined digital assets being gamed by mining companies.
Closing the Wash Sale Loophole
The package also moves to close a long-standing disparity between crypto and equities. Currently, investors can sell crypto at a loss to claim a tax deduction and immediately repurchase the same asset — a strategy called wash sale trading that is prohibited for stocks. The PARITY Act would write a 30-day restriction directly into crypto loss harvesting. Under the new rules, investors would need to wait 30 days after a sale to preserve the deduction, or risk it being disallowed.
Bipartisan Support — With Caveats
The June 9 hearing revealed a lack of full bipartisan consensus, with industry leaders pushing to expand the legislation while Democrats questioned whether the process should be slowed significantly. Ranking Democrat Richard Neal acknowledged being “aligned with that goal — eventually,” adding there is “healthy skepticism on both sides.”
Alison Mangiero of the Crypto Council for Innovation called the hearing “an important first step,” noting that the format — where members work through specific legislation with expert witnesses before any markup — is one the committee has not used in years.
Rep. Miller told attendees at the Blockchain Association’s policy summit that he believes a bill can move before the August 2026 recess, and that a lead Democratic co-sponsor is expected to be announced soon. Both chambers must ultimately agree on any final text before legislation can be signed into law — and with the congressional session ending in late 2026, the clock is running.
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