Coinbase Warns Crypto Provisions in Infrastructure Bill Could Affect 20% of U.S. Population

Oinbase’s vice president of global tax, Lawrence Zlatkin, took aim at the “last minute” cryptocurrency provisions that were hastily added to a bipartisan infrastructure bill in the U.S. Congress, slamming lawmakers for hastily including an amendment that could affect “60 million Americans.”

In a blog post on August 21, Zlatkin criticized the lack of public discussion about the infrastructure bill in response to an August 19 Bloomberg editorial praising the cryptocurrency provisions in the bill. Zlatkin estimated that 20% of the U.S. population is invested in digital assets:

Today, approximately 60 million Americans own cryptocurrency, roughly one-fifth of the U.S. population. These Americans, and the entire crypto ecosystem, deserve more conversation than a midnight clause tacked on at the last minute.”

Zlatkin noted that outrage over the bill’s language has spread beyond the crypto industry, noting that he estimates that nearly 80,000 people have contacted senators “in just a few days” amid “public outcry.”

The Coinbase executive specifically highlighted the bill’s broad definition of a digital asset “broker” — which could impose strict reporting requirements on network validators and software developers, who would be unable to meet their obligations under the bill in its current form.

“As long as regulations force software developers, miners, and stakers to do the impossible, no lawyer will advise them to risk operating illegally, because the penalties for not complying will make them easily bankrupt,” he said, adding:

“It would hurt innovation and stifle the potential of a vitally important technology in its earliest stages of development… Tax policy should be carefully crafted. Overreaching is a regulatory mistake.”

Zlatkin added that digital asset brokers should be subject to the same third-party reporting requirements as mainstream brokerage firms.

The controversial infrastructure bill passed the Senate earlier this month, and onlookers hope it will have a chance to be amended when it goes to the House for review in the coming months.