US Lawmaker Wants Members of Congress to Disclose Crypto Assets

A bitcoin-friendly U.S. lawmaker is hoping to get members of Congress to disclose their holdings of cryptocurrency assets.

In a written petition sent to the House Committee on Ethics dated Feb. 5, Colorado House Representative Jared Polis argued that, because cryptocurrency assets are regarded as commodities by several agencies, Congress members should follow the same financial disclosure requirement as for traditional assets.

Currently, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities Exchange Commission both regard cryptocurrencies as commodities in the U.S. Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service requires that gains from cryptocurrency are also subject to federal income tax rules.

Polis argues in the letter:

"Members of Congress and covered employees are already required to report certain asset holdings over certain amounts, including reporting any commodities holding over $1,000, a Member or covered employee should report any virtual currency holding as they would report any other commodity, such as gold."

The letter marks Polis' latest effort in pushing through the normalization of cryptocurrency as part of his long-term advocacy for the technology.

As reported by CoinDesk, Polis' prominence stemmed from his earlier satirical recommendation to ban the U.S. dollar and replace it with bitcoin in 2014. He also became notable as one of the first politicians in the U.S. to accept bitcoin donations for political campaigns.

More recently, in September 2017, he introduced a bill seeking capital gains tax exemption for holdings of cryptocurrencies worth less than $600.

U.S. Capitol image via Shutterstock