The crypto industry, a crowd not known for its love of central authority, has done something unusual. More than 65 different organizations, from the Solana Policy Institute to Uniswap Labs, have joined hands. They’ve written a letter to President Donald Trump with a clear, unified message. They want rules.
- Over 65 crypto organizations have jointly written to President Trump urging immediate regulatory clarity, bypassing slow legislative processes.
- The industry is specifically requesting guidance based on the recommendations from the President’s own Working Group on Digital Assets report released in July.
- Key demands focus on establishing a $600 *de minimis* tax rule for small transactions and clarifying the tax treatment of mining and staking rewards.
It seems the wild west phase is getting old. With legislative progress moving at a glacial pace, this coalition is tired of waiting. They are now looking directly to the White House for action, pointing out that federal agencies can provide clarity right now. No new laws needed, just guidance.
The group isn’t starting from scratch. They say their recommendations pull from a report the President’s own Working Group on Digital Assets released back in July. That lengthy paper laid out a potential regulatory map covering everything from banking to stablecoins.
As the Solana Policy Institute put it on X, “The roadmap exists. Now agencies must act to cement American leadership in crypto.” It’s a polite way of saying the homework has been done, and now it’s time for the teacher to grade the paper.
Today, the Solana Policy Institute and 65+ other organizations sent a letter to President Trump urging his Administration to take immediate steps to provide regulatory clarity for the digital asset industry.
The roadmap exists. Now agencies must act to cement American leadership in… pic.twitter.com/wJ2V9wT67R
— Solana Policy Institute (@SolanaInstitute) November 21, 2024
So what, exactly, are they asking for? The list is surprisingly practical. It focuses on the two things that keep crypto users and builders up at night: taxes and the vague threat of legal trouble.
The Tax Headache
First on the agenda is the IRS. The current tax situation for digital assets is a mess of guesswork and anxiety. Using crypto for small, everyday purchases can trigger a taxable event, creating a paperwork nightmare for anyone who just wants to buy a coffee.
The coalition’s solution is simple. They’re asking President Trump to direct the IRS to apply a de minimis tax rule. They suggest a $600 threshold. This means any transaction under that amount would be exempt from tax reporting. It would make using crypto for small payments feasible, not just a hobby for accountants.
This isn’t a radical idea. Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming introduced a bill in July with a similar, though smaller, $300 transaction threshold. The industry is clearly signaling that this is a top priority for adoption.
The second tax request is more technical, but it’s a huge deal for the people who actually run the networks. They want the Treasury to clarify how rewards from mining and staking are treated. Mining and staking are the processes that secure blockchains, and participants are rewarded with new tokens.
Right now, it’s unclear if those rewards are taxed as income the moment they are received, or only when they are sold. The letter asks for guidance stating these rewards are “self-created property taxed upon disposition.”
In plain English, that means you’d only pay taxes when you sell your rewards. Think of it like a baker. The government doesn’t tax them for the bread they bake, but for the money they make selling it. This change would align crypto with how other types of property are treated and end a kind of double taxation that punishes network participants.
Code, Crime, and Clarity
The letter doesn’t stop at taxes. It wades into the murky legal waters of decentralized finance, or DeFi, and the responsibilities of software developers. The group is asking for a shield to protect innovation.
They want President Trump to urge the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to issue “exemptive relief.” This is basically a request for a regulatory sandbox, a space where DeFi projects can operate and experiment without the constant fear of enforcement actions.
Then the letter makes its most pointed request. It asks the President to urge the Department of Justice to dismiss all charges against Roman Storm, a developer who worked on the crypto mixer Tornado Cash.
Storm was charged in 2023 with money laundering and sanctions violations. In August, a jury found him guilty of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, but they couldn’t reach a verdict on the more serious charges. The case sent a chill through the entire developer community.
The coalition argues that prosecuting someone for writing open-source code is a dangerous precedent. They point out that soon after the verdict, a DOJ official himself said that “writing code” without ill intent is not a crime. Dropping the case, they argue, would send a powerful signal that the U.S. protects innovation and upholds the idea that code is a form of speech, protected by the First Amendment.
This letter is more than just a list of demands. It’s a sign of a maturing industry. The days of simply ignoring Washington seem to be over. Instead, crypto leaders are walking up to the front door and asking for a clear set of house rules. They believe the future of American leadership in this field depends on it.
