1/ .@tyler and I founded @Gemini 6 yrs ago with the mission to empower individuals through crypto and the belief that the most vibrant markets in the world are thoughtfully regulated.
2/ We grew up in the Wild West days of #Bitcoin — nearly a decade ago — and saw first-hand the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly of a fledgling technology movement trying to find its footing.
3/ The promise of #Bitcoin and crypto writ large is staggering — it offers the possibility of greater choice, independence, and opportunity for all. But to realize this, we must build and maintain trust in this new asset class day in and day out.
4/ As such, we have engaged with regulatory stakeholders and lawmakers since day one and have always strived to ask for permission, not forgiveness.
5/ Building a startup on the frontier of crypto involves great uncertainty. Often we find ourselves trying to make sense of and building to regulations and laws that were authored decades ago, that pre-date the commercial Internet.
6/ So when new laws are introduced, we welcome the opportunity to engage with lawmakers and provide constructive feedback to help ensure suitability and create clarity for companies and innovators on the frontier, while satisfying the original intent of said law.
7/ We all want to avoid laws that feel like a square peg in a round hole.
8/ This brings us to the Infrastructure Bill currently before Congress which includes a provision related to crypto tax reporting obligations for “brokers.” As a crypto platform, @Gemini is able to comply with these “broker” obligations and finds them entirely reasonable.
9/ However, the Infrastructure Bill proposes a definition for “broker” that includes software developers, node operators, miners, and others. These firms can not practically comply with crypto tax reporting obligations because they don’t have the requisite information to do so.
10/ Imposing crypto tax reporting obligations on software developers, node operators, miners, and others, who cannot comply with them, may very well push them to leave the United States for other jurisdictions. This is obviously bad for America.
11/ Senators @RonWyden @SenLummis and @SenToomey have proposed a thoughtful amendment to the Infrastructure Bill that limits the definition of “broker” to suitable businesses like @Gemini that actually can comply with crypto tax reporting obligations — WE SUPPORT THIS AMENDMENT.
12/ The Wyden-Lummis-Toomey Amendment is win-win for lawmakers and our industry. It will provide tax revenue from crypto and ensure suitability and clarity for crypto innovators who want to build in America.
13/ In short, this amendment ensures that crypto tax reporting obligations fall on platforms like @Gemini, who can comply with them, NOT miners, nodes, or software developers, who can’t.
14/ A Bill without this amendment will be a lose-lose for lawmakers and our industry, because it will push crypto innovators (and their customers) and their related revenue offshore, thereby reducing overall tax revenue and threatening American innovation.
15/ The ethos and promise of crypto is very American. As a country, we can and should lead in this industry. Decreasing uncertainty and passing suitable laws is critical to enabling the crypto industry to thrive here — in America.
16/ Please call 517-200-9518 to be connected to your Senators’ office to support the Wyden-Lummis-Toomey Amendment before tomorrow’s vote. Let’s continue to fulfill the promise of crypto in America — onward and upward!
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