DeFi regulation has taken a turn for the better, with US lawmakers looking to repeal IRS broker rules

U.S. lawmakers are preparing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) to challenge the IRS's broker rules, which require DeFi participants to report user data to the IRS.

Fox Business Channel reporter Eleanor Terrett revealed on March 4 that Republican Senator Ted Cruz is leading the push to introduce this CRA. The initial vote was originally scheduled for March 5, but schedule conflicts including the upcoming State of the Union address may cause the vote to be postponed.

As Terrett reports: “The CRA, if passed by a simple majority in both the House and Senate, would repeal the IRS’s broker rule, which is part of the U.S. Treasury Department. The rule expands the definition of ‘broker’ to include DeFi developers. Supporters of the CRA say the current rules are ill-suited to the unique nature of DeFi.”

The IRS broker rule, finalized last year, imposes new tax reporting requirements on entities that handle digital assets.

The rule classifies brokers, including DeFi front ends, as entities responsible for tracking user activity, reporting transactions, and enforcing compliance measures. The rule also requires DeFi platforms to implement “know your customer” (KYC) processes.

In addition, the regulation applies to all digital assets, including NFTs and stablecoins.

The White House supports the move, and David Sacks, head of Crypto Asset Affairs, made a public statement on Tuesday, saying that "the so-called broker DeFi rule is a last-minute attack on the Crypto community by the Biden administration."

Peter Van Valkenburgh, executive director of Crypto Asset Think Tank Coin Center, criticized the rule for treating software developers and infrastructure providers as brokers.

He believes that implementing such measures would undermine privacy rights, ignore bipartisan concerns, and hinder technological progress.

In view of this, Valkenburgh emphasized that the outcome of this vote will serve as an early indicator of how the US government will treat digital asset regulation in the coming years.

He said: "People have been talking about the new Congress taking a friendlier stance toward Crypto assets; this vote will be a decisive first test of this theory."

At the same time, revoking the rule will be consistent with the broader pro-Crypto asset stance of Donald Trump's administration and strengthen the growing influence of pro-Crypto asset lawmakers.