The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act.
The proposal covers transaction fees, stablecoins, mining, staking and lending.
The bill must still pass both chambers of Congress before reaching the president.
The House Ways and Means Committee approved the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act on Wednesday, advancing a comprehensive proposal to overhaul cryptocurrency taxation to the full House floor.
Committee officials announced the markup session on Monday, scheduling a legislative review of H.R. 10357 during which lawmakers examined proposed amendments and voted on whether to recommend the measure for consideration by the full House.
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“This wasn’t built overnight,” said committee Chairman Representative Jason Smith (R-Mo.) in a prepared statement, acknowledging over a year of bipartisan collaboration on the measure.
“The legislation before us today is the product of that collaborative effort, bringing clarity, parity, and practical implementation to digital asset taxation while helping maintain the United States’ position as a global leader in cryptocurrency innovation rather than allowing that sector and its associated employment opportunities to migrate overseas,” Smith explained.
Under the proposed framework, cryptocurrency users would be exempt from capital gains or loss calculations on qualifying network or transaction fees of $10 or less. Currently, paying such fees with digital tokens triggers taxable events because cryptocurrencies are classified as property for tax purposes. The relief would take effect in 2028 and would apply specifically to eligible fee payments, not to general small cryptocurrency transactions.
The legislation would streamline tax calculations for qualifying dollar-backed stablecoins that trade close to their redemption value, classify mining and staking rewards as ordinary income, and permit certain investment trusts to participate in staking activities without forfeiting their tax-advantaged status solely for engaging in such activities. Notably, the bill removes a previously considered provision that would have allowed taxpayers to defer recognition of certain mining and staking rewards.
Additionally, the bill would extend wash-sale regulations to actively traded digital assets, generally delaying loss deductions when investors acquire substantially identical assets within 30 days before or after executing a sale. According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, qualifying cryptocurrency-backed loans would not be treated as taxable sales, and eligible taxpayers would have the opportunity to amend previous returns through a newly established disclosure program.
The tax legislation advanced one day after the Senate was unable to progress with the separate Digital Asset Clarity Act, which focuses on cryptocurrency market oversight. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have indicated they will continue pursuing regulatory clarity for digital assets using their existing statutory authority.
Before becoming law, the tax proposal requires passage by both chambers of Congress in identical form along with the president’s signature.
“I look forward to building upon this foundational work as we advance these critical policies through the legislative process,” Representative Smith concluded.
