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US infrastructure bill could make crypto mining illegal

5 points by teslafire124 ↗ HN
The bipartisan-supported infrastructure bill has a new provision that specifically changes the Tax Code to account for digital asset brokers which include all crypto miners. They will need to file 1099 forms that include their customer data which is impossible due to the nature of crypto transactions. What does this mean? It will be impossible for the brokers to fill out the 1099s and be in violation of the Tax Code and at the IRS' mercy. Essentially it would be impossible to legally mine crypto in the United States of America.

5 comments

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rvz
> It will be impossible for the brokers to fill out the 1099s and be in violation of the Tax Code and at the IRS' mercy. Essentially it would be impossible to legally mine crypto in the United States of America.

So where are all the miners that were outlawed in China going to go now? Probably not the US if this 'thing' gets passed through.

teslafire124
Whichever other countries have the infrastructure to support the required hardware. That's going to keep dwindling if this goes through and other countries follow suit.
verdverm
You are accepting the broadest possible application narrative.

The law is ambiguous so that interpretation and enforcement can evolve with a rapidly changing field. As always, the courts will weigh in on this eventually.

teslafire124
Yes it is extremely broad. And as it is right now, the IRS could use it to go after crypto miners.

I think it's more likely that changes are made to that part of the bill to make it more specific before it reaches the courts.

verdverm
It's more likely the SEC will go after entities the resemble "brokers"

Think things like Uniswap and a bunch of other Defi players.

They always put out literature on how to comply and give companies time to do so.

So they won't go after anyone as long as they abide by the laws