Latest news with #Lummis
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Business
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Sen. Cynthia Lummis Shares Pathway To Build America's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Now, Says It Will Eliminate Half Of US Debt
Benzinga and Yahoo Finance LLC may earn commission or revenue on some items through the links below. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) is the latest to weigh in on budget-neutral strategies the U.S. could use to build its Bitcoin reserve. President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March for the Commerce and Treasury secretaries to develop 'budget-neutral' strategies to build the U.S.'s strategic Bitcoin reserve. The big question following this executive order has been what these budget-neutral strategies would look like in practice. Lummis told Bloomberg Television last week that there are indeed pathways to build the U.S. strategic reserve now within the confines of Trump's executive order. Don't Miss: — no wallets, just price speculation and free paper trading to practice different strategies. Grow your IRA or 401(k) with Crypto – . According to Lummis, one budget-neutral way the U.S. can start building its Bitcoin reserve now is by using digital assets currently held by the U.S. Marshals Service from asset forfeitures. Beyond digital assets, Lummis said other forfeited assets held by the Marshals Service could also be converted to Bitcoin to add to the U.S.'s reserve. 'We can add other currently held assets, assets held in a different form, convert them to Bitcoin and hold them,' she said. Just how much the Marshals Service currently holds in seized assets, digital and otherwise, however, is unclear. Its last audit came in 2022. At the time, it was estimated that the agency held $3.4 billion worth of seized assets as of the end of fiscal 2021, with $466 million of these assets being digital assets. U.S. agencies were supposed to release an audit of their digital asset holdings on April 5. However, the audits have yet to be released. CoinDesk reported in February that the Marshal Service could not account for the digital assets it held, citing sources familiar with the matter. These sources highlighted struggles with management and tracking. Trending: New to crypto? on Coinbase. Regardless of how the Trump administration chooses to build the U.S.'s Bitcoin reserve, Lummis last week stressed the importance of establishing legislation around the effort. 'I think it's important eventually to have a legislative framework for a strategic Bitcoin reserve so it can't be undone by future presidents,' she said. Lummis unveiled the Boosting Innovation, Technology, and Competitiveness through Optimized Investment Nationwide, or BITCOIN, Act in 2024, outlining a plan for the U.S. government to accumulate 1 million BTC over five years funded by profits from the country's gold reserves. She told Bloomberg last week that in 20 years, this Bitcoin stash would be able to clear half of the U.S.'s debt, which currently stands at nearly $37 trillion. Concerns that a revaluation of the U.S.'s gold certificates would impact confidence in the dollar and gold market stability, however, cast doubt on the feasibility of Lummis' plan. The BITCOIN Act has been relegated to the background in recent months. For now, lawmakers are focused on stablecoin rules. A stablecoin bill, called the GENIUS Act, is being debated in the Senate ahead of a final vote. This vote was supposed to take place last week, but it is being delayed by resistance from state banks and proposed amendments on the floor, The American Prospect reported on Monday. Read Next: A must-have for all crypto enthusiasts: . Maker of the $60,000 foldable home has 3 factory buildings, 600+ houses built, and big plans to solve housing — Image: Shutterstock This article Sen. Cynthia Lummis Shares Pathway To Build America's Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Now, Says It Will Eliminate Half Of US Debt originally appeared on Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Business
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Cynthia Lummis slams 'flawed' tax rules
Cynthia Lummis slams 'flawed' tax rules originally appeared on TheStreet. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) thinks crypto assets, including Bitcoin, are being unfairly targeted because of "flawed tax rules." Lummis wrote on X on June 10: We need crypto revisions in reconciliation. Lummis is a well-known crypto advocate in the U.S. political space who famously introduced the BITCOIN Act that aims to turn Trump's executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve into legislation. Her latest salvo against crypto tax policy is part of the broader pro-crypto policy pursued by the Trump administration. In the U.S., the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) treats cryptocurrencies as property for tax purposes. Every crypto transaction, if it incurs gains, is taxed as capital gains by the IRS. While the short-term crypto capital gains tax ranges from 10% to 37%, the long-term crypto capital gains tax is 0%, 15%, or 20%. Earlier in May, Sen. Lummis proposed re-examining how the 2022 Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (CAMT) from the Biden era applied to digital asset holdings, forcing crypto companies to pay taxes on unrealized crypto gains. However, the Wyoming senator has also taken a step in the direction of rescinding the exemption of the wash sale rule to crypto assets. What a wash sale means is that if you believe your crypto holding which has gone down in value will surge later, you can sell it for a loss during a financial year and again purchase it during the beginning of the next financial year. Since the IRS doesn't view crypto as security, the wash sale rule doesn't apply to it. But Lummis recently made an effort to the upcoming tax-and-spending bill to apply the wash-sale rule to crypto. The proposal also urged exempting Bitcoin miners from reporting gains and losses. Crypto tax reporting remains a complex issue in the U.S. and the world, and the evolving status of the crypto assets makes it more complicated. Cynthia Lummis slams 'flawed' tax rules first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 10, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
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Top military generals support national Bitcoin reserve, claims Senator Lummis
U.S. military generals are "big supporters" of a strategic Bitcoin reserve, Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) has made the claim. The senator said she has talked to generals who understand that economic power is as important as military power to address aggressors around the world and strongly support a strategic Bitcoin reserve exactly for this reason. Lummis made the remarks while addressing the audience at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 26. Lummis also underlined how China banning Bitcoin mining gave an opportunity to the U.S. to lead the way. A strategic Bitcoin reserve is the ultimate way of securing geopolitical advantage, Lummis said. She stressed that President Donald Trump supports her Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act, which mandates the U.S. government to purchase up to 1 million Bitcoin — approximately 5% of the total Bitcoin supply — over five years. Sen. Lummis also highlighted how state-level adoption of Bitcoin is as crucial as federal-level adoption. She added that Sen. Jim Justice (R-WV) served as the West Virginia Governor, and Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) will be the next Tennessee Governor, who shared the stage with Lummis. 'States have always been the incubators of innovation,' Lummis said. While states like Arizona, Texas, and New Hampshire have passed strategic Bitcoin reserve bills this year, 30 states are considering it, she highlighted. Sen. Lummis is one of the loudest pro-crypto political voices in the U.S., who even believes that Bitcoin could address the country's monumental debt of $36 trillion. As per Kraken, Bitcoin was trading at $109,943 at press time, around 2% lower than the record high of $111,970.17 that it hit on May 22. Top military generals support national Bitcoin reserve, claims Senator Lummis first appeared on TheStreet on May 27, 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
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Sen. Lummis on Push for Stablecoin Bill: ‘I Had No Idea How Hard This Was Going to Be'
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — The U.S. Senate seems to be getting close to passing its landmark stablecoin bill, the GENIUS Act — a battle its champion Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) said has been incredibly hard-fought. 'It has been extremely difficult,' Lummis said during a fireside chat with Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Tuesday. 'I had no idea how hard this was going to be.' Last week, the Senate voted to advance the bill, easily clearing the 60-vote threshold required to kick the bill to its last discussion phase before the final vote to pass it out of the body entirely. An earlier attempt failed on a bipartisan basis after Senate Democrats, led by long-time crypto sceptic Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), as well as several Republicans including Missouri's Josh Hawley and Kentucky's Rand Paul, voted against cloture. Lummis, whose staff (along with that of the bill's co-sponsor, Kirsten Gillibrand (D-New York)) has played a key role in the behind-the-scenes negotiations to get the GENIUS Act passed, said that she thinks the Senate has reached a final deal. If the bill passes, both Lummis and Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), the bill's sponsor, claimed that it would be the first piece of legislation passed out of the Senate Banking Committee in eight years. 'It's taken a tremendous amount of work,' Hagerty said, speaking on a separate panel discussion on Tuesday. Hagerty added that long-time crypto skeptic Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), the bill's main opponent, made a concerted effort to drag out the proceedings in the hopes of stalling the legislation's progress. Hagerty said that the bill, once passed, would be the most bipartisan piece of legislation to pass through the Senate Banking Committee in over a decade. While the bill's supporters see that as a win, they're also frustrated with the difficulty in getting legislation in general passed through the committee. 'We don't have the muscle memory anymore to legislate. That's our job,' Lummis said. 'It really is very frustrating, very exhausting, and you have to keep your creativity, your sense of humor and your patience about you.' Lummis added that she was 'very hopeful' the Senate could work behind-the-scenes with the House on a market structure bill, noting that the House has the advantage of 'muscle memory' (following its passage of FIT21 last year) over the Senate when it comes to the next hurdle of crypto legislation. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
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MARA's Fred Thiel Says U.S. Should Start Mining Bitcoin to Fill Strategic Reserve
LAS VEGAS, Nevada — Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) CEO Fred Thiel has an idea for how U.S. President Donald Trump's administration can make good on its promises to build out a strategic bitcoin reserve: start mining. Speaking on a panel at Bitcoin 2025 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, Thiel said that the U.S. government has many potential ways to generate bitcoin to fill the strategic bitcoin reserve that would adhere to the 'budget-neutral' acquisition strategy laid out in Trump's March executive order, including using excess hydroenergy to mine bitcoin domestically. Though it's been nearly three months since Trump authorized the establishment of a strategic bitcoin reserve, it remains unclear exactly how — and when — the government will take steps to actually begin filling it, a source of evident frustration among a number of speakers at the conference. 'I think it's critical,' Thiel said of acquiring bitcoin for the reserve. 'The U.S. making a statement that we're going to have a strategic reserve is an empty statement unless you start putting stuff into it.' At this point, the reserve is supposed to hold all of the bitcoin that has been sized by the government in civil and criminal forfeitures — estimated to be approximately 200,000 bitcoins. But many in the industry and government, including Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), think that getting the government's existing stockpile of bitcoin into a strategic reserve is merely a first step, to be followed by bigger, more meaningful acquisitions. In March, Lummis re-introduced legislation — the so-called BITCOIN Act of 2025 — aimed at codifying Trump's plans for a strategic bitcoin reserve. Under Lummis' plan, after getting all of the forfeited bitcoin into the reserve, the U.S. government would spend the next two to five years converting a portion of its gold certificates into bitcoin. 'We have enough assets in under performing assets that we can get five percent of the world's bitcoin without spending a single dime,' Lummis said. However, Lummis acknowledged that it's unlikely that any real movement on the BITCOIN Act — or, more broadly, taking any significant steps to fill the strategic reserve with anything other than forfeited assets — will come before Congress works its way through stablecoin and market structure legislation. 'It's going to be a heavier lift than I thought because so many people don't understand bitcoin,' Lummis said. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
