Three of the largest U.S. crypto trade associations — the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation, and the Digital Chamber — sent a joint letter to Congress on June 21 urging swift passage of H.R. 9175, the Tax Clarity for Mining and Staking Act. The bill, introduced by Representative Mike Carey (R-OH), would let miners and stakers elect to treat newly created digital assets as self-created property, deferring tax until they sell. The trade groups argue the current tax rules are driving domestic validation activity abroad and hurting American competitiveness.
What the bill does
H.R. 9175 offers two main fixes. First, miners and stakers can postpone paying tax on new tokens until they actually sell or exchange them — no more paying income tax on something they haven’t cashed out. Second, grantor trusts that hold digital assets can receive staking rewards without losing their trust status. That matters for a growing number of institutional investors using trusts to manage crypto holdings.
The tax headache it fixes
Right now the IRS treats mined Bitcoin as gross income at the moment it’s created, thanks to Notice 2014-21. The agency extended that same treatment to staking rewards in Revenue Ruling 2023-14. That creates a real cash-flow problem: validators and miners owe tax on tokens they haven’t sold, often before they’ve covered their electricity or hardware costs. The trade associations say that’s a disincentive to run nodes in the U.S.
A tight legislative window
The House Ways and Means Committee held its first hearing on digital asset taxation in years on June 9. Senator Cynthia Lummis has introduced a parallel bill in the Senate that aligns with H.R. 9175. But Congress has a narrow window before the August recess, and Lummis departs in January 2027 — so this session might be the best shot. In their letter, the three groups called the bill “a durable compromise” and urged lawmakers to pass it without changes. The question now is whether the House and Senate can move fast enough.
