The price of Bitcoin remains above $45.000 per unit even though the US Senate decided to approve the original Infrastructure Bill, leaving aside the proposed amendments.
This Tuesday, the United States Senate approved the Infrastructure Bill, which will be passed to the House of Representatives next month. Despite being negative news for the crypto industry, due to the tax implications that this regulation brings with it, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) remains stable, trading above $45.500 per unit at the time of writing.
The US Senate approved the original Infrastructure Bill introduced in late July by a vote of 69 to 30. The amendment proposed by pro-crypto senators Cynthia Lummis, Pat Toomey and Ron Wyden and the one proposed by senators Rob Portman, Mark Warner and Kyrsten Sinema were all rejected in the Senate, as was the last-minute compromise agreement involving all six senators.
Since the bill was passed, several congressmen, US politicians and leaders of the crypto community have spoken out against the regulation, which would put an end to the innovation of the cryptocurrencies, in the country.
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A tragic mistake
While the crypto community says it will not give up and will use the bill's introduction to the House of Representatives to push for an amendment that would minimize the risks to the crypto industry and innovation, several politicians say the bill's passage is a tragic mistake for the United States.
Senator Lummis, recognized in the crypto world as one of the most innovation-friendly political leaders in cryptocurrencies, stated that the approval of this law demonstrates the lack of knowledge that US legislators have about cryptocurrencies and digital assets, who decided to approve the bill behind closed doors without considering the opinion of experts and stakeholders within this industry.
Likewise, Senator Ted Cruz pointed out on his Twitter account that US legislators are making a mistake with the imposition of the Infrastructure Act in the country, which will “erase” a part of the digital industry; causing the country to expel innovation and lose its global technological leadership, unconsciously favoring other nations.
The Infrastructure Bill seeks to raise some $28.000 billion in taxes from the crypto industry over a decade starting in 2023. However, the broad terms and definitions introduced by the original Senate-approved bill, especially the term “Broker,” seek to include all cryptocurrency participants as “brokers,” subject to tax obligations. This suggests that both custodial and non-custodial entities involved in the crypto industry will fall under the law’s scope, and would therefore be subject to regular reporting and tax filing in the country. Non-custodial entities are understood to be those that do not provide services or have clients, such as miners, node operators, validators, and software developers.
Several crypto community leaders have also spoken out against the new bill, arguing that the political battle over cryptocurrencies is just beginning.
Bitcoin maintains its value
Bitcoin, the industry's leading cryptocurrency by market cap, remains valued above $45.500. According to data from CoinMarketCap, BTC has grown by nearly 20% over the past week, going from a value of $37.000 in the middle of last week to $45.688 per unit currently. Bitcoin's market capitalization exceeds $857.000 billion.
Source: CoinMarketCap
Bitcoin began to recover its value on July 20, rising by approximately 53% to date. The price of Bitcoin at the end of last month was $29.770, so to date it has recovered about $16.000 per BTC.
The broader cryptocurrency market has also recovered significantly, showing a market capitalization of over $1,88 trillion at press time. Within this value, Bitcoin takes the top spot with a 45,5% market share; while Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency in the industry, dominates 19,6% with a market cap of $369.000 billion.
Continue reading: Bitcoin price rises, boosting stocks of related companies
