House Panel Advances Crypto Tax Bill as SEC and CFTC Prepare Rulemaking Push

The US House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act in a bipartisan 38–5 vote on Wednesday, sending a sweeping overhaul of federal crypto tax rules to the full House. The legislation introduces new tax treatment for dollar-pegged stablecoins and certain crypto lending agreements, extends wash-sale rules to widely traded digital assets, and revises how mining and staking income is taxed. For everyday users, the bill creates a de minimis exemption for qualifying network and transaction fees of $10 or less, eliminating the need to recognize small gains or losses when paying blockchain fees.

The committee vote came one day after Senate lawmakers failed to advance the CLARITY Act, the broader crypto market structure bill that fell short of the 60 votes needed to proceed. The setback has shifted industry attention toward federal regulators as Congress struggles to establish a comprehensive digital asset framework. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and CFTC Chair Michael Selig said Wednesday that their agencies would continue developing crypto rules using their existing statutory authority.

Analysts at Bernstein expect "aggressive and swift" rulemaking from the SEC and CFTC to fill the regulatory gaps left by the stalled CLARITY Act. In a Wednesday note shared with Cointelegraph, Bernstein said the agencies would publish new regulations covering token taxonomy for capital raises, developer protections for decentralized finance and self-custodial protocols, innovation exemptions for equity tokenization, and faster approval timelines for real-world asset perpetual futures. The firm also anticipates amendments to rules governing event contracts and their classification as swaps.

Markets were mixed on Wednesday, with Bitcoin trading near $117,400, Ether around $2,417, and Solana at $98.66, as traders weighed the regulatory developments against ongoing macro uncertainty.