Cruz: Go slow on crypto regs

Sen. Ted Cruz lashed out at fellow senators amid a debate over tax-enforcement requirements for cryptocurrency transactions, saying lawmakers need more knowledge about the industry.

Speaking on the Senate floor Monday about “harmful” crypto regulations in the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, the Texas Republican said, “Let’s recognize if we gathered all 100 senators in this chamber and asked them to stand up and articulate two sentences defining what in the hell a cryptocurrency is, that you would not get greater than five who could answer that question.

“Given that reality, the barest exercise of prudence would say we shouldn’t regulate something we don’t yet understand. We should actually take the time to try to understand that. We should hold some hearings, we should consider the consequences.”

Cruz (right) argued against the Biden administration’s push to make cryptocurrency brokers disclose user transactions. Critics argue that such regulations will ultimately kill the digital-currency industry in the US.

He added that the US shouldn’t be sending cryptocurrencies overseas to competitors by making it “impossible for them to succeed here.”

The issue of tax compliance for cryptocurrency brokers appeared close to being resolved after senators announced they had worked with the Treasury Department to clarify the intent. But an effort to quickly adopt the cryptocurrency compromise was derailed by senators who wanted their own amendments.

The crypto regulations remain in the bill passed by the Senate on Tuesday.