House Democrats are preparing for a key caucus meeting before voting on a major bill, while Senate Republicans are advancing a revised version of the megabill with significant amendments, including the removal of a controversial energy tax and increased funding for rural hospitals. The legislation faces ongoing negotiations, with key senators like Murkowski and Collins playing pivotal roles, and the bill's final passage remains uncertain amid intra-party debates and procedural hurdles.
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has vowed to defend Bitcoin against "invasive surveillance" and protect the right to hold and use the cryptocurrency. Speaking at the 2023 Bitcoin Conference in Miami, Kennedy criticized President Joe Biden's proposed 30% tax on energy use for Bitcoin miners, saying it would require an invasive surveillance apparatus to monitor miner energy usage. He also pledged to uphold the right to run a private node and said KYC requirements should be applied at the level of banks and exchanges, not at the level of nodes.
The Biden Administration has proposed a new 30% tax on the electricity costs of cryptocurrency mining companies to hold them accountable for the amount of energy they consume. The Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) excise tax aims to combat the negative impact of crypto mining on the environment, which generates pollution that disproportionately affects low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. The tax increase is estimated to raise $3.5 billion in revenue over 10 years and would mean crypto mining firms couldn't just move from one locale to another to avoid increased fees.
