In an interesting bit of good news for the crypto community, the Build Back Better Bill looks to be dead in the water. The Daily Beast reported that “Joe Manchin (D-WV) finally put the nail in the coffin of the Biden administration’s ambitious $1.75 trillion Build Back Better spending package, declaring on Sunday that he was a “no” on the legislation and “can’t vote for it.”” This has many crypto investors feeling a giant weight lift off their shoulders. This Bill would have possibly done serious damage to the crypto market if passed as is. As CNBC reported “The Build Back Better Act would subject cryptocurrency transactions to wash sale rules, anti-abuse rules that currently apply to stocks and bonds, starting in 2022.”
The purpose was to close “tax loopholes” for crypto investors but critics of the legislation claimed it would do far more harm than good. They claim it would hamper innovation and move business overseas to more crypto friendly nations. In November Sen Ted Cruz said of the Bill’s crypto language that “The Lone Star State has quickly emerged as the main hub for the cryptocurrency industry, and that exciting industry is now in danger of being stifled and driven overseas by an overreaching provision in this newly-signed, reckless spending package. As a deliberative body, the Senate should have done its job and held hearings to properly understand the consequences of legislating on this emerging industry before we risked the livelihoods and privacy of participating Americans. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to repeal this harmful language that will create regulatory uncertainty and in turn an unnecessary barrier to innovation.”
The chances of this Bill being passed has suffered a serious blow after Manchin’s decision. While the chances of Bill’s passage are looking rather slim it is important to note that we live in uncertain times and anything is possible. Let us keep our fingers crossed.