Infrastructure Bill Finally Signed Into Law

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Eventually, after several months of scrutiny from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the infrastructure bill which was criticised by so many crypto experts is officially signed into law.

In a ceremony in front of the White House on Monday, 15th of November, President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill before a crowd of reporters, lawmakers and union workers.

While the two-party legislation is focused on providing funding for roads, bridges, internet access, solar panels and other major infrastructure undertakings, lawmakers used language related to cryptocurrencies before its passage in both chambers of Congress.

The bill passed into law will enforce tighter rules on cryptocurrency-related businesses and enhance the reporting requirements for brokers. The bill mandates that hence, digital asset transactions that are worth more than $10,000 be reported to the Internal Revenue Service.

A group of Senators had originally moved for an amendment to the bill that would have interpreted the crypto tax reporting requirements, but the proposal was rejected back in August.

The majority of Senators behind the efforts to amend the crypto vocabulary in the bill ultimately voted yay, but Pat Toomey condemned the legislation as “too expansive, too unpaid for and too threatening to the innovative cryptocurrency economy” when it passed in the senate.

While it is now difficult for any U.S. lawmaker to revert the content of the crypto reporting requirements which is planned to take effect in 2024, others have used the bill’s passage as a call to action. Shannon Bray, a libertarian candidate for one of North Carolina’s seats in the Senate, urged voters to “elect crypto-friendly representatives” for them to help fight the implementation of the law.

Consequently, President Biden has signed the infrastructure bill even though there was a reported last-ditch effort by Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis to alter the tax reporting requirements to “not apply to individuals developing blockchain technology and wallets.”