- Crypto is becoming a political issue in the U.S.
- The Biden administration has again placed the industry at the center of a bipartisan dispute.
- Biden’s statements have unsurprisingly attracted significant pushback.
Crypto is becoming increasingly politicized in the United States, with President Joe Biden placing the industry at the center of a bipartisan conflict for the second time in as many weeks.
In the latest attack, Biden has lumped crypto traders in the same category as “wealthy tax cheats” in a speech at a Group of Seven (G7) press conference held in Japan on Sunday, May 21. Speaking on debt ceiling negotiations, the U.S. president reiterated his unwillingness to agree to proposed budget cuts by Republican lawmakers.
Biden asserted that the deal proposed by Republicans put “food assistance at risk for nearly one million Americans” while protecting “wealthy tax cheats and crypto traders.” The president had expressed a similar view less than two weeks ago. The continued attacks have unsurprisingly sparked intense scrutiny from the crypto community.
Crypto Traders Fire Back at Biden
Sharing a clip of the Sky News coverage of Biden’s speech on Twitter, Guy “Coin Bureau” Turner argued that Biden’s “inflationary policies” were why Americans needed food assistance, not crypto traders.
"He wants to stick it to those crypto traders - even if it means defaulting on the country's debt," Turner added in a follow-up tweet.
For others, Biden’s recent hyperfocus on crypto trading in budget cut negotiations was puzzling as they believed there were other ways to achieve the desired outcome. For instance, prominent crypto trader IncomeSharks pointed out that the U.S. lost $247 billion from payment errors in the past year.
“Yet the biggest problem is somehow Cryoto [crypto] when many of us have paid insane amounts of taxes. The attacks on crypto get stupider and stupider over the years,” they added.
Ran Neuner suggested that Biden’s speech was part of a growing anti-crypto rhetoric from Democrats.
Some, like a1ex.eth, @a1ex_eth on Twitter, joked that there were no wealthy crypto traders.
We’re all poor crypto traders now,” the NFT collector quipped, alluding to the toll the bear market has had on the portfolio of many investors.
Tiger Hills Vice President Alexander Grieve concluded that there was an increased likelihood of a crypto tax provision in the debt ceiling deal. As highlighted by Grieve, it remains to be seen what this provision would be from Biden’s growing list of crypto tax proposals.
Biden had suggested on May 9 that crypto tax loopholes cost the U.S. $18 billion annually. While it remains unclear what loopholes he referred to, several experts have theorized that he most likely referred to the lack of a wash trading rule in crypto markets.
The administration has also proposed a 30% tax on crypto mining, arguing that miners are not held accountable for the alleged economic and environmental harms they place on others.
On the Flipside
Why This Matters
The U.S. could default on its debt by failing to raise its debt ceiling for the first time in history if the Biden administration fails to strike a deal with Republican lawmakers in the next 11 days. Biden’s statements suggest crypto-related provisions are a major contention in these debt ceiling negotiations.
Learn more about the first time Biden made crypto the focus of budget cut talks:
Biden Targets Crypto Tax Loopholes. Community Left Confused
Malaysian Securities regulators have taken action against Huobi Global. Details here:
Huobi Forced Out of Malaysia, Loses 5th Largest Market
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- Source: https://dailycoin.com/biden-angers-crypto-traders-with-wealthy-tax-cheat-comparison/
