Crypto tax amendment fails to pass in the Senate despite last-minute compromise in infrastructure bill

• The US Senate has rejected a compromise crypto-tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill.
• It failed to pass by one vote on Monday, opposed by a lawmaker wanting $50 billion in military spending added.
• Senators had argued over how broadly the crypto tax rules should apply, but found a compromise.

The US Senate rejected a crypto-tax amendment to the $1 trillion infrastructure bill, put together in an eleventh-hour compromise between lawmakers battling over which crypto brokers should be subject to new tax-reporting rules.

The compromise amendment, which needed unanimous approval to be adopted into the bipartisan bill, failed to pass by one vote late Monday. It was opposed by Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who had tried to attach his own unrelated amendment for a $50 billion increase in military spending, only to see this refused.

Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania presented the crypto amendment, which was co-sponsored by Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, Rob Portman of Ohio, and Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming.

The lawmakers had been in different camps about how broadly or narrowly to define the term "broker" in the infrastructure bill, an argument essentially about which companies exactly would be subject to new cryptocurrency tax-reporting rules.

The definition decides who must report cryptocurrency gains to the Internal Revenue Service under the new regulations, and the gains threshold where these kick in. The tax proceeds are expected to fund up to £28 billion in infrastructure investment.

Sens. Warner, Portman and Sinema wanted to include software developers and so-called validators, such as miners and stakers, in the definition. Sens. Toomey, Lummis and Wyden's narrower proposal excluded various crypto-related companies and organizations.

The compromise text, supported by Treasury Secretary Yellen, excludes software developers and validators.

After the amendment failed to pass, crypto advocates reacted strongly once again, having already raised fears a wide scope would hurt their industry and hinder it from developing.

"I think it's about time we get a rally going in Washington DC. I'm going to make some phone calls. More on this later," Charles Hoskinson, founder of the cryptocurrency Cardano, tweeted.

Others went a step further, with crypto heavyweight Mike Novogratz saying that there should be a bill excluding anyone over the age of 80 from Congress.

"The world is changing too fast to have a collection of 70-80 year olds making all the important decisions," he said on Twitter.

Unless senators are able to introduce another vote on the compromise amendment, the bill will go to vote with the original, broader definition of a crypto '"broker".