Daines Introduces Digital Asset Tax Reform Bill

A Montana Republican senator is pushing for a digital asset tax reform bill to modernize how the Internal Revenue Code treats cryptocurrency. The draft, circulated in September 2026, aims to provide relief for everyday users while cracking down on trader tactics.

The key provision targets stablecoins, creating a new IRC §1034 that provides nonrecognition of gains or losses on qualifying stablecoin payments at or near the $1 mark. This means that if you spend a dollar-pegged token worth roughly a dollar, you wouldn't need to log a fractional-cent gain or loss.

The bill also extends wash-sale rules to most digital assets, with qualified stablecoins carved out. A wash sale works like this: selling an asset at a loss, claiming the loss on taxes, then buying the same asset right back. Traders may not like this part as much.