US Treasury once again proposes new crypto tax rules to “modernize” code 

Treasury on Monday released its 2025 revenue proposals, known as the “Greenbook,” detailing many of the same plans it unveiled last year

article-image

David Kay/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

In line with President Joe Biden’s plans, the US Department of Treasury is once again suggesting a plethora of tax rules relating to digital assets, including outlawing wash-trading and imposing an excise tax on electricity costs for miners.

The Treasury on Monday released its 2025 revenue proposals, known as the “Greenbook,” outlining the tax recommendations in Biden’s budget, also published Monday. 

The crypto-related proposals are largely a repeat from what the President asked for in 2023, which ultimately did not become law. 

Read more: Biden won’t tax crypto out of existence: Lummis

The Department wants to add an excise tax on “any firm using computing resources…to mine digital assets” of 30% of electricity costs used for mining. If the proposal is adopted, miners would be required to report the amount and type of electricity used and the cost, when purchased externally. 

Miners that lease equipment would also be responsible for reporting electricity values and firms that use off-grid power would have to pay 30% of estimated costs. 

The Biden Administration first proposed excise taxes on miners last year, citing environmental concerns. 

“While crypto assets are virtual, the energy consumption tied to their computationally intensive production is very real and imposes very real costs,” the White House said in a May 2023 statement. 

Read more: EIA to drop emergency bitcoin miner survey following court battle

Treasury officials also want to see wash-trading rules applied to crypto, nixing a long-standing loophole Democrats have been trying to close for some time. 

“A taxpayer may sell a digital asset that is not considered a stock or security for wash sale purposes at a loss on one day and repurchase the same digital asset the next day,” Monday’s Greenbook read. “The same loss recognition rules should apply to digital assets held as investments or for trading as would apply for stocks and securities.”

The Treasury suggests adding all “digital assets,” not just crypto securities, to the current wash trading rules. 

The Department defines “digital asset” as “any digital representation of value which is recorded on a cryptographically secured distributed ledger or any similar technology as specified by the Secretary,” per the Greenbook.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates (19).png

Research

Suilend has grown into the top money market and liquid staking provider on Sui. STEAMM, Suilend’s Superfluid AMM, presents a compelling avenue for growing market share within Sui’s DEX landscape and revenue generation for the protocol. Suilend’s multi-product suite position it well for owning market share across key verticals. While current metrics across the Sui ecosystem are likely inflated due to Sui Foundation incentive programs, SEND trades at amongst the lowest multiples in the lend/borrow sector, suggesting that a bull case for continued growth in the ecosystem may be mispriced.

article-image

The best capital markets are open to the most people — and crypto capital markets are open to everyone

article-image

Post-conference musings on Firedancer, Kraken, Solana Mobile and Trump

article-image

Executives expect others to follow SharpLink Gaming’s lead in purchasing an asset that has surged this past month

article-image

After a weekend of tariff policy shifts, investors appear confident that trade deals are underway

article-image

Multiple rounds of prior audits did not catch the flaw, the DEX said

article-image

StarkWare launches new consumer-grade hardware ZK prover