Recent moves in the US have flagged potential obstacles that could appear for cryptos over time...

I have long maintained that there are three basic threats to the future growth and ultimate success of cryptocurrencies. Firstly. internal manipulation or malfeasance e.g. pump & dumps, Secondly, external criminality e.g. mainstream theft, ransomware driven payments, 'illicit' transactions in general and the negative press that it all generates. And finally misguided, inappropriate or simply malicious government regulations.

Events in the US Congress over the past few weeks have demonstrated the good, the bad and the ugly of this latter point and overlaid a rich dollop of their national political machinations.

So what has been driving recent legislative moves in the US? Essentially, it appears to be money! Quelle surprise?!? And political opportunism!

The latter point is that President Biden's domestic agenda and his much vaunted Infrastructure bill, a massive government funded series of programmes to completely rebuild the transportation system across the country, has presented a legislative vehicle to which an attempt to regulate cryptocurrencies could be hitched.

What Just Happened With the Infrastructure Bill? - CoinDesk

The Senate will pass its infrastructure bill with the broadest form of its crypto tax reporting provision – right where it was a week ago.

CoinDeskDamanick Dantes

I guess you could distil the monetary aspect into two separate threads - firstly, tax...

The love of money is the root of all evil

Biblical quote

...and supposedly related to that is the notion that rampant criminality and massive tax evasion is pervades the asset class and needs to be reined in.

New Infrastructure Bill Looks to Raise $30B Through Crypto Taxes - CoinDesk

The Senate’s new bipartisan infrastructure bill could raise up to $30 billion through taxes on crypto using new information reporting rules.

CoinDeskDamanick Dantes

Remarkably, one of the staunchest defenders of the sector, for reasons which appear to be based on his recently refurbished libertarian political platform, has been Senator Ted Cruz. If I sound cynical, it's because I am but I don't have the will to dig further into his motivations. I could be wrong, I mean when have vested interests and commercial lobbyists ever tried to influence policymakers?

Sen. Cruz Leads Fight to Remove Harmful Regulations on Cryptocurrency From Wasteful Infrastructure Bill | Ted Cruz | U.S. Senator for Texas

‘Let’s not be the number one economic developer for the Communist Party of China by sending cryptocurrencies overseas to our competitors because we’ve made it impossible for them to succeed here’

U.S. Senator for Texas

Of course, this being the Congress of the United States of America, its hidebound procedures and calcified traditions have done their best to make passing anything almost impossible and this bill was proven to have no immunity to this body politic.

Lone Senator Rejects Crypto Compromise in Infrastructure Bill - CoinDesk

Senator Richard Shelby rejected a compromise on a contentious crypto tax reporting provision in its $1 trillion must-pass infrastructure bill.

CoinDeskDamanick Dantes

Pork Barrel, a close neighbour of the Filibusters in the suburb of US Legislative Absurdity, was the guilty party but the saving grace here is that at least we know where we stand with the status quo...yeah, right!

Onwards!