US lawmakers have released a new discussion draft that would significantly change how digital assets are taxed, aiming to reduce the burden on everyday users while aligning crypto with traditional financial rules. The proposal focuses on small payments, stablecoins, and staking income, areas where existing tax treatment has drawn criticism for being impractical.
The draft was introduced by Representatives Max Miller and Steven Horsford, signalling growing bipartisan momentum behind clearer crypto taxation. It is not yet a formal bill but is intended to gather feedback from industry, tax experts, and regulators.
Payments and stablecoins at the centre
One of the headline measures is a de minimis exemption for digital asset payments. Under the proposal, individuals would not have to report capital gains or losses on transactions of up to $200 per transaction. This change is designed to make it easier to use crypto and stablecoins for everyday purchases without triggering complex tax calculations.
The draft places particular emphasis on stablecoins. Payments made using stablecoins issued by approved or regulated entities would generally qualify for the exemption, supporting their use as a medium of exchange rather than purely speculative assets. Lawmakers argue that current rules discourage real-world use by treating even small purchases as taxable events.
The proposal also addresses staking and mining rewards, another long-standing pain point for the sector. Instead of taxing rewards when they are received, the draft would defer taxation until the assets are sold or otherwise disposed of. In some cases, the deferral could last up to five years, reducing the problem of taxing unrealised income.
To prevent abuse, the discussion draft extends familiar tax safeguards to digital assets. These include applying wash sale style rules and adapting securities lending principles to crypto markets. Supporters say this balances user relief with protections against aggressive tax avoidance strategies.
Although focused on the US market, the proposal is being closely watched abroad. For European policymakers, it offers a reference point as the EU continues to refine its own crypto framework and debates how private digital money, including stablecoins, should coexist with initiatives such as the digital euro.
The authors stress that the text remains a work in progress. Further revisions are expected before any formal introduction in Congress, but the draft signals a clearer direction for how US lawmakers want crypto to fit into the tax system.