House Committees Clear Major Crypto Regulation Bills Amid Stalled CLARITY Act

Two significant bills have cleared their respective House committees in the US, marking progress in crypto regulation. The American Reserve Modernization Act and the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act both advanced on September 16.

The first bill, H.R. 8957, creates a permanent Bitcoin reserve within the Treasury Department. It requires that government-held Bitcoin be kept for at least 20 years, unless sold to purchase more Bitcoin or reduce debt. The reserve currently holds approximately 328,000 BTC obtained through criminal and civil forfeiture.

The second bill, H.R. 10357, rewrites tax rules for digital assets. It exempts small transaction fees from reporting if they are $10 or less, extends wash-sale rules to cover digital assets, and uses redemption value rather than market price for stablecoin basis.

These measures solve different problems and do not address the regulator turf fight between the SEC and CFTC. As such, they can move forward independently of CLARITY, which remains stalled in the Senate.