In a tweet, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong slammed the bipartisan infrastructure bill’s by stating “hastily conceived provision” on crypto assets
Brian Armstrong is the latest figure in the cryptocurrency community to express opposition to the proposed infrastructure bill. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong laid out his thoughts on the new legislation in a ten-part tweet storm posted Wednesday, calling it a “hastily conceived provision” and outlining the bill’s negative consequences in its current form. Armstrong also draws attention to an amendment proposed by Senators Ron Wyden, Pat Toomey, and Cynthia Lummis, urging readers to contact their local senators and urge them to support the revision.
The proposed infrastructure bill, in its current form, would impose stringent tax reporting requirements on brokers. The bill defines a broker as someone who “effectuates transfers of digital assets.” Under this definition, cryptocurrency miners and developers would be required to report all crypto transactions to the IRS, which is often impossible due to the decentralized nature of smart contract-based protocols.
Armstrong’s amendment would restrict the definition of a broker to entities capable of complying with tax reporting requirements, such as Coinbase. Additionally, it would exclude developers and miners, as they are not directly involved in cryptocurrency transfers. Armstrong also noted that the new bill imposes “unprecedented reporting requirements” that would allow cryptocurrency users to be monitored “in a way that is more intrusive than the rest of traditional finance.”
Armstrong has previously refrained from politics, stating that Coinbase will not take a position on political issues in order to maintain focus on the company’s objectives. He did, however, indicate that Coinbase may take a position on issues affecting cryptocurrencies directly, and the new infrastructure bill appears to be one such instance.
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