Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno Urge US Treasury to Review Crypto Tax Policy

In a letter to the U.S. Treasury, Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno proposed changes to corporate crypto tax policies to ensure fairness and maintain global competitiveness.

The senators noted that, under current rules, U.S. companies are taxed more heavily than foreign competitors. They urged the Treasury to remove the tax on unrealized gains from corporate digital asset holdings and to issue updated accounting guidance to ease this unintended burden on American companies.

U.S. leadership in digital finance is at risk if our American companies face structurally higher tax burdens than foreign peers, solely due to divergent accounting standards,

the Senators wrote.

Previously, in 2022, then-President Joe Biden signed a law imposing a 15% minimum tax on corporations with an average income of over $1 billion over the previous three years.

In 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) introduced amendments requiring companies to report the value of their digital asset holdings based on current market prices, even if they haven’t sold them.

This means companies are now taxed on unrealized gains (profits they haven’t actually made yet) from digital assets.

Senators Lummis and Moreno said the combination of accounting rules and the minimum tax has created an unintended burden on companies. They urged the Treasury to adjust financial income reporting rules to exclude the taxation of unrealized gains and to provide clear guidance.

Failure to provide this clarity on unrealized gains in digital assets might require corporations to sell assets just to pay the tax, and it would disincentivize entities from maintaining large holdings of digital assets,

– the Senators noted. 

Crypto Regulatory Developments in the US in 2025

The US government has taken a pro-cryptocurrency stance. Pro-crypto lawmakers now hold a majority in Congress, and President Donald Trump has publicly endorsed the industry.

In early 2025, Trump signed an executive order establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, funded with cryptocurrencies seized by the government. The reserve aims to strengthen the country’s financial position.

Critics, however, raised concerns about Trump’s involvement, pointing to his promotion of the TRUMP memecoin and the USD1 stablecoin. In May, the GENIUS Act – a bill focused on stablecoin regulation – failed to advance in the Senate.

Crypto regulation remains a key topic in the U.S., with lawmakers, the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, and the administration continuing to draft clear policy frameworks.