Senate Could Unveil Crypto Tax Bill by Fall 2026 as CLARITY Act Push Continues, GOP Senator Daines Says

Senate lawmakers could release cryptocurrency tax legislation as early as fall 2026, according to Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.). Speaking to Bloomberg Tax, Daines, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, stated that a legislative framework is already in place and is broadly aligned with a parallel effort in the House of Representatives.

Daines described the Senate framework as “more similar than not” to the House Ways and Means Committee’s proposal, suggesting the two chambers may avoid the legislative divergence that often stalls bills. He expressed hope that a markup—the first formal step toward turning the framework into a bill—could occur within the year.

Tax policy is emerging as the next major front in U.S. crypto regulation, even as the market-structure-focused CLARITY Act dominates headlines. The tax treatment of digital assets has long been one of the most ambiguous areas of U.S. policy, with issues such as staking rewards, mining income, and small transactions remaining unclear under current law.

The House Ways and Means Committee has been preparing its own legislation to address these gaps. Aligning the Senate and House efforts early could smooth the path to a final bill, which would provide much-needed certainty for traders, miners, and businesses.

The timing is politically significant: the CLARITY Act has consumed much of the Senate’s crypto bandwidth. A tax framework arriving in the fall would test whether Congress can advance two complex digital-asset measures in the same session.

For now, the proposal remains a framework rather than a finished bill. Daines stopped short of committing to a firm date, and any markup would need to clear the Senate Finance Committee before reaching the floor. However, if the two chambers remain in sync, crypto tax legislation could advance alongside the market-structure push, giving the sector a rare double dose of regulatory clarity.

Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/senate-crypto-tax-bill-fall-2026-daines/