Alex Leishman, the CEO and co-founder of River Financial, has expressed his displeasure regarding the bipartisan infrastructure bill that can potentially cause serious harm to the crypto industry, as well as the businesses related to it.
Leishman believes that it could keep the US from growing into a technological leader in this day and age, as well as ruining the livelihood of around 46 million Americans that own Bitcoin. He hopes that the House would instead create thoughtful rules that ensure compliance without contributing to anti-innovation.
River Financial joins the Bitcoin community in its frustration over this poorly-written, last minute language that will seriously damage American leadership and innovation in cryptocurrency without actually accomplishing the purported goal of raising tax revenue. America has a historic opportunity to be a global leader in Bitcoin development while repressive regimes like China and Iran are cracking down on it. But if the Senate language is enacted, we’ll be making the same mistake as those authoritarian nations.
Alex Leishman, CEO and co-founder of River Financial
Leishman added that the language related to cryptocurrency is too broad and would consider entities such as Bitcoin miners, node operators, and software developers as “brokers” by definition. These entities are not capable of complying with tax reporting requirements, which would ultimately force them to shut down completely or move their expertise and innovation to other countries.
The CEO also believes that the bill could lead to reporting obligations for many Americans owning Bitcoin, which is even more burdensome than the requirements imposed on legacy financial institutions. Besides being anti-innovative, it leaves the sensitive personal data of the Americans vulnerable to leaks and abuse.
