President Joe Biden signs infrastructure bill into law, mandating broker reporting requirements

After months of scrutiny by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, the infrastructure bill — criticized by many cryptocurrency advocates — is now officially law in the United States.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed the $1 trillion infrastructure bill into law in front of reporters, lawmakers and union workers Monday in a ceremony in front of the White House. While the bipartisan legislation seeks to fund roads, bridges, internet access, solar panels, electric vehicle charging stations and other major infrastructure projects, lawmakers added provisions that would apply to the bill before both houses of Congress passed it. Cryptocurrency wording.

Once passed, the bill would impose stricter rules on businesses dealing with cryptocurrencies and expand reporting requirements for brokers. The bill stipulates that future digital asset transactions worth more than $10,000 must be reported to the IRS. A group of senators initially proposed an amendment aimed at clarifying cryptocurrency tax reporting requirements, but the proposal failed to win approval in August.

Bipartisanship and jobs seemed to be the theme of the afternoon, with many speakers talking about Democrats and Republicans working together to pass the bill. Biden personally thanked Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Rob Portman, as well as Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, for their efforts to get the bill passed in the Senate.

"For so long, we've been talking about having the best economy in the world," the US president said. "Today, we finally got the job done. America is moving forward again, and your lives will be better."

A majority of senators who worked hard to change the encryption language in the bill eventually voted in favor, but when the bill passed the Senate, Pat Toomey criticized the bill as “too expensive, too broad, too gratuitous, and too threatening to an innovative cryptocurrency economy.” He noted that crypto tax reporting requirements may “not work.”

The infrastructure package we voted on today is too expensive, too extensive, and too gratuitous. I can't stand it.

— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) August 10, 2021

While it will be difficult for any U.S. lawmaker to change the substance of the cryptocurrency reporting requirement — which is set to go into effect in 2024 — others have taken the passage of the bill as a call to action. Liberal candidate Shannon Bray for one of the North Carolina Senate seats encouraged voters to “elect crypto-friendly representatives,” seemingly to help oppose the bill’s implementation.

Biden signed the infrastructure bill despite reportedly last-ditch efforts by Senators Ron Wyden and Cynthia Lummis to try and amend tax reporting requirements to “not apply to individuals developing blockchain technology and wallets.” It's unclear how the bill introduced by Wyden and Lummis, which must pass the Senate and House of Representatives before it reaches the president's desk, would affect current infrastructure legislation.

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