Wyoming Senator revives crypto tax exemption debate amid market structure talks

Cynthia Lummis continues to push pro-crypto policies in a market structure bill under consideration in the Senate, even as she prepares to leave Congress in January 2027.

Cynthia Lummis, one of Wyoming’s two US senators, who announced plans to leave the chamber in 2027, has revived a push for a de minimis tax exclusion on small cryptocurrencies transactions as the Senate debates a digital asset market structure bill.

In a CNBC interview on Wednesday, Lummis said that the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee were considering a $300 exemption to allow crypto users to better use Bitcoin (BTC) for transactions without paying capital gains taxes.

The Wyoming senator’s statement followed her introduction of a standalone bill in July 2025 proposing a de minimis tax exemption for crypto transactions under $300, with a $5,000 limit annually.

“We’re trying to figure out how to weigh, the appropriate way, to decide when a sale — for example of Bitcoin — should be subject to capital gains and when it should be allowed to be used as a simple means of exchange the same way we use the US dollar,” said Lummis.

Lummis, who sits on the Senate Banking Committee, said that her Democrat colleagues were still not voting “yes” on the crypto market structure bill, which passed the House of Representatives as the CLARITY Act in July 2025.

The committee had been scheduled for a markup on the bill in January, but the chair, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, postponed the meeting indefinitely after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that the exchange could not support the legislation “as written,” citing concerns with tokenized equities.

Related: Crypto turnaround at Fed as Kraken scores account and Trump nominee goes to Senate

The Wyoming senator has been one of the most outspoken proponents for the market structure bill in Congress. However, Lummis announced in December that she would not seek reelection to the Senate, making her last day in January 2027.

Concerns over the market structure bill, ranging from tokenized equities, responsibilities for US financial regulators, ethics over potential conflicts of interest, and stablecoin yield have effectively stalled progress of the legislation in the Senate.

However, last week US President Donald Trump took to social media to urge banking groups to “make a good deal” with the crypto industry, adding that banks could not hold the CLARITY Act “hostage.” As of Monday, the Senate Banking Committee had not rescheduled its markup of the bill.

Magazine: The debate over Bitcoin’s four-year cycle is over: Benjamin Cowen

Source: CoinTelegraph