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Progress on Digital Asset Rules and Regulations Lagging

With Congress bogged down, it may be some time before bills that will directly impact the charitable sector begin moving again.

Democratic members of Congress and Treasury Department officials seem to be slowing down their efforts to advance rules and legislation regulating digital assets, which could affect the timing of legislation impacting charitable giving of crypto assets.

For example, there are several bills that tackle the tax treatment of digital assets and others that eliminate onerous appraisal requirements for large crypto-asset gifts. But with Congress getting bogged down, it may be some time before bills that will directly impact the charitable sector begin moving.

In late June, Bloomberg reported that the Treasury Department is likely to push back a January deadline set by Congress for implementing new data tracking and reporting requirements designed to deter would-be tax evaders. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also raised concerns about provisions in a bill meant to regulate stablecoins—a hot topic because of the recent implosion of certain stablecoins and related companies. Negotiations between House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and the committee’s lead Republican, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.) on legislation might have wrapped up last week had the White House blessed the committee’s efforts.

But instead, committee staff will continue working on writing rules for stablecoins, which once seemed as though it could come together more quickly. And while a bill negotiated between Agriculture Committee Chair Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John Boozman (R-Ark.) to give the Commodity Futures Trading Commission oversight over pieces of the digital asset market was introduced this week, its path forward remains unclear with so few legislative weeks remaining before the midterms. 

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