Crypto Industry Pushes for New Tax Rules on Mining and Staking

Crypto companies are fighting a new battle in Washington — over taxes. The industry's biggest lobbying groups (organizations that try to influence politicians) just asked U.S. lawmakers to support a bill that would change how crypto earnings are taxed.

The bill, called the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act, was proposed by Republican Representative Mike Carey. It deals with two ways people earn cryptocurrency:

• Mining — using powerful computers to help run a crypto network and earning new coins as a reward.
• Staking — locking up your existing coins to help secure a network, and earning extra coins in return.

The problem the bill tries to fix: Right now, the moment you receive new coins from mining or staking, the government may count it as income — meaning you owe taxes immediately, even if you haven't sold anything for actual cash.

The new bill would give people a choice about when to be taxed:

• Option 1: Pay tax right away, when you first receive the coins.
• Option 2: Wait and pay tax later, when you actually sell the coins for money.

Why does this matter? Crypto leaders argue it's unfair to force people to pay taxes on coins they haven't sold yet. As Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, put it: people shouldn't be forced to sell their assets just to pay a tax bill on rewards they recently earned.

Three major crypto groups — the Blockchain Association, the Digital Chamber, and the Crypto Council for Innovation — signed a joint letter asking the House Ways and Means Committee (the part of Congress that handles tax laws) to advance the bill without changes, even though some critics have concerns.

The bigger picture: This shows crypto's lobbying efforts are growing on two fronts. Besides this tax fight, lawmakers in the Senate are still debating a separate market structure bill that would set broader rules for how crypto is regulated in the U.S.

If passed, this tax change could make life easier for everyday crypto miners and stakers across America.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2026/06/22/crypto-s-second-u-s-lobbying-front-tax-policy-sees-industry-push-on-mining-staking