Brian Armstrong Denies Compensation Against Bitcoin De Minimis Exemption Tax

Brian Armstrong says Coinbase’s claims against Bitcoin’s de minimis tax exemption in Washington are “absolutely false.”

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, dismissed allegations that his company’s lobbyists are working to block the Bitcoin (BTC) tax exemption in Washington, calling the allegations “absolutely false.”

The dispute has attracted Bitcoin lawyers, tax lawyers, and crypto lobbyists, and has reached the center of a wider debate about what the big crypto companies actually stand for when they walk the halls of Congress.

What the Allegation Means

The allegations were made by Truth for the Commoner (TFTC), a Bitcoin-focused news account with nearly 100,000 followers on X, which posted on March 11 that Coinbase told lawmakers “nobody uses Bitcoin as money” and that the BTC de minimis exemption would be “DOA.”

According to the TFTC, Coinbase has a financial incentive to oppose the BTC tax exemption. The account says the exchange earned $1.35 billion last year in stablecoin revenue, almost all of which came from interest on US Treasuries held in USDC-backed reserves.

The TFTC also suggested that a de minimis rule covering BTC but not stablecoins would make the crypto king an attractive payment method, and that would draw users away from Coinbase’s yield-generating stablecoin ecosystem.

Recall that last year, Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis introduced digital asset tax legislation that seeks to provide a de minimis tax exemption for crypto profits on crypto transactions up to $300. According to the TFTC, the House version of the bill caps at $200 and only includes stablecoins.

Armstrong responded directly to Coinbase’s accusations, saying:

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“I’m not sure where you’re getting this false information from (maybe you could share it?) but it’s completely false. I’ve spent a lot of time lobbying for Bitcoin to be exempt from de minimis taxation, and I will continue to do so.”

However, TFTC founder Mart Bent did not back down, telling Armstrong:

“I have sources that say otherwise, not you personally but your team and/or promoters.”

He also asked if the head of Coinbase will go through the market structure bill if it fails to have a Bitcoin de minimis exemption, as it did earlier this year, when it withdrew its support for the CLARITY Act after disagreeing with the stablecoin yield.

A Policy Debate with Many Moving Parts

Meanwhile, tax attorney Jason Schwartz, known as “CryptoTaxGuy” on X, tried to give some context to the exchange between Armstrong and the TFTC.

According to him, the discussion may include four different policy ideas, namely the personal consumption law of minimis, the release of gas money, the reform of stablecoin reporting, and the plan to consider the gains and losses of stablecoin as zero.

Schwartz added that different market participants will strongly advocate for different arrangements, and this alone should not be viewed as one group trying to “kill” another arrangement.