Catenaa, Wednesday, September 16, 2026- The House Ways and Means Committee is set to consider legislation Wednesday that would establish a broader federal tax framework for cryptocurrencies, including new rules for stablecoins, mining, staking and digital-asset trading.
Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., introduced the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act, H.R. 10357, after lawmakers spent months examining how existing tax rules should apply to digital assets.
The bill would create a de minimis exception for qualifying crypto network and transaction fees of $10 or less. Taxpayers generally would not have to recognize a gain or loss when digital assets are used to pay those fees.
That provision would take effect for dispositions after December 31, 2027.
The measure also creates simplified accounting rules for widely traded digital assets and sets special tax treatment for qualifying US dollar stablecoins trading close to their redemption value.
For qualifying stablecoins, the bill generally treats the redemption value as the tax basis when acquisition prices remain within specified limits.
The legislation would also extend existing securities-lending tax treatment to qualifying transfers of traded digital assets under lending agreements.
Wash-sale rules would be expanded to traded digital assets. Losses could be disallowed when substantially identical assets are acquired within 30 days before or after a sale.
Mining and staking are addressed separately.
Income from digital-asset validation activities would generally be treated as ordinary income. The bill would also allow certain investment trusts to stake digital assets without that activity alone changing their tax status.
Unlike an earlier proposal considered by lawmakers, the latest bill does not include an option to defer income recognition on some newly created mining or staking rewards.
The legislation would also require the Treasury Department to establish a Digital Asset Voluntary Disclosure Program within 12 months of enactment.
Eligible taxpayers could amend earlier returns and pay taxes, interest and applicable penalties while receiving specified protections from additional enforcement.
The bill combines several proposals examined during a Ways and Means hearing in June, when lawmakers considered how to reduce reporting burdens while extending traditional tax safeguards to digital assets. ([Ways and Means][2])
The tax measure is separate from the CLARITY Act, the broader crypto market-structure legislation that failed to advance in the Senate this week.
Wednesday’s markup is an early legislative step. The committee can amend the bill before deciding whether to send it to the full House.
