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Trump Signs Resolution to Repeal DeFi Broker Rule

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a joint resolution of Congress that nullifies a rule from the Biden administration that would have required DeFi platforms to report transactions to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The rule was set to take effect in 2027. The so-called IRS DeFi broker rule would have expanded existing reporting requirements for tax authorities to DeFi platforms, requiring them to disclose gross sales revenue from cryptocurrency transactions, including information about taxpayers involved in those transactions.

Trump formally repealed the measure by signing the resolution on April 10, marking the first time a cryptocurrency bill has been officially signed into law, said Representative Mike Carey in a statement.

– The DeFi broker rule unnecessarily hindered American innovation, violated the privacy of ordinary Americans, and would have inundated the IRS with a mountain of new filings for which it has no infrastructure to process during tax season, Carey said.

Critics of the rule argued that it would burden decentralized platforms with overly stringent regulations, hindering innovation in crypto and DeFi. Supporters, such as Democratic Representative Lloyd Doggett, stated in March that repealing the IRS rule would create a loophole in the law that wealthy taxpayers would exploit.

The resolution to repeal the rule quickly passed through Congress, with the House approving it on March 11. Trump was expected to sign the law after White House Artificial Intelligence and Crypto Commissioner David Sacks indicated in March that the president supported the repeal of the measure.

Industry ‘Can Breathe Again’ with Repeal of IRS Rule

Kristin Smith, Executive Director of the lobbying crypto group Blockchain Association, stated in an April 10 statement that innovators, builders, and developers in the industry can breathe again now that the resolution has been passed.

– This rule promised the end of the U.S. crypto industry; it was a sledgehammer to the engine of American innovation, she added.

The lobbying group filed a lawsuit in December against the IRS, the Department of the Treasury, and then-Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to repeal the IRS rule, claiming it was an illegal and unconstitutional overreach. The Trump administration took a friendly stance towards crypto and worked to overturn the proposed legislation.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed a series of enforcement actions and investigations against crypto companies initiated under the Biden administration after Trump was elected and began a series of industry consultations on how the crypto industry should be regulated.