BREAKDOWN: White House Unveiled as Puppet Master as New Amendment Threatens Crypto Industry

The administration’s public support of a restrictive amendment calls into question the original motives of the crypto provision.

This episode is sponsored by NYDIG.

The infrastructure bill-related surprise in the U.S. Congress came in the form of a competing amendment with a short list of exemptions from the original language. On this episode of “The Breakdown,” NLW addresses the latest updates on the bill, including:

White House support of the Portman, Warner and Sinema amendmentProof-of-work prioritizationThe future of the bill

The White House claimed support of the Portman, Warner and Sinema competing amendment, citing its ability to strengthen tax compliance in the crypto industry. Crypto advocates have been quick to call out the intentional gaps in the amendment’s language as well as the clear lack of technological understanding.

The proposed amendment specifically excludes proof-of-work mining from the reporting requirements, a surprising stance compounded by the fact that the language itself seems to misunderstand the difference between validation and mining. Some Bitcoin maximalists rejoice at their preferential treatment over proof-of-stake networks like Ethereum, but it remains unclear whether this amendment would protect even Bitcoin in the long term.

If the amendment were passed, the bill itself would not go into effect until 2023. Organizations like Fight for the Future are creating resources for crypto allies to contact their senators. If the amendment passes, how will crypto adapt? 

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The Breakdown is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Rob Mitchell and additional production support by Eleanor Pahl. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Razor Red” by Sam Barsh. Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images News, modified by CoinDesk.

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