Fixing the Policies Holding Bitcoin Back | Bitcoin 2026

All right, good afternoon Las Vegas. It is an honor to be here at the Code and Country event. And when we're talking policy, we truly have the leading advocates in Washington in the halls where the policies are being shaped with me today. We only have about 20 minutes. We have a very big panel here. So, we're going to get right into it. Cara, I want to start with you. >> Yeah. The number one big legislative effort we've been talking about for a while now is market structure legislation. The Clarity Act for everyone out there. Coinbase has been one of the leading voices in trying to get this done over the finish line and I know you have been instrumental in getting us to where we are today. At a high level, what does the market structure bill, whether it's the Clarity Act or RFIA, whatever you want to call it, what does it mean for Bitcoin? >> Absolutely. Well, it's a pleasure to be here today. I've been with Coinbase for about a decade now. And I got into crypto and working for Coinbase because of Bitcoin, because of the promise of Bitcoin and the ability to promote economic freedom through the use of Bitcoin. And I think the key to that is being able to hold your own asset, the freedom to use your asset, hold your asset, buy, sell, pay, whatever it is. And ultimately that I think is core to market structure. I think it's the ability to self-custody, making sure we protect that in the bill. I think it's creating certainty because at the end of the day, we want to ensure that the rules out there allow builders, developers, and all of the other companies who want to use Bitcoin, whether it's for payments or just for for new types of products and services. We need to make sure there's certainty. And then last but not least, we need to make sure that regulation by enforcement never happens again. And we don't have Bitcoiners, Bitcoin companies being debanked because of a hostile regulatory environment. So, I think those three things are what I really look to for Bitcoin and how I think that this will promote the future of Bitcoin. >> Yeah. And the durability of getting law enacted is so important. What happens if we get this wrong? >> Great question. I think ultimately if we get this wrong, the the development will move overseas. We saw that we went up as everybody started to move overseas and now people are coming back to the United States. But that is not a foregone conclusion. I think we have to get it right and I think the time is now to get it done, pass it into law and get it to the president's desk. >> Jason, you've been leading at MARA on Bitcoin policies in Washington for a long time now. We're going to talk about a bunch of different issues today, market structure, tax, state, federal. When you look at what's important from a legislative or regulatory aspect in Washington for Bitcoin, what stands out to you? What's the number one thing you would like to get done in Washington? Well, I agree with Carol on several points including self uh custody. Uh also dimminimus I think is something that Bitcoiners have pushed for a long time on Capitol Hill and hopefully we'll see that in the market structure. Um, one thing that from the executive branch side, well, two things and I think we'll talk about tax uh in a little bit, but the strategic Bitcoin reserve uh there was talk around uh ways that you could do budget neutral ways to get more Bitcoin uh in the balance sheet and there was a lot of energy around that. I'm hoping that once market structure is passed that we'll re-engage with uh the Trump administration to advocate for policies uh around the SBR. >> And Dennis, I'll go to you. Talk about SPR. You've been leading at getting some of the strategic Bitcoin reserves at the state level. How are you feeling about the federal government and the pace of action on SPR or other policy issues as it relates to the states as well? Yeah, we've been really fortunate to see the first strategic Bitcoin reserve policy ever passed into law in the state of New Hampshire and then of course Texas and Arizona followed suit. We're actually fortunately seeing one move in California now. It just passed on consent and judiciary unanimously out of the banking and finance committee. Uh at the federal level, it's been slow and I think as everyone here will agree, we need to get market structure passed in order for us to move on to this next generation of policy and that's something that Satoshi action is very interested in. We want to skate to where the puck is going, not to where it's been. We need to get market structure done and thanks to many of the people up on this panel. Hopefully, fingers crossed it will get done and then we can move on to that next era of policy. But we're excited about strategic Bitcoin reserves at the federal level and also we recently saw in the Minded America act that there was a strategic Bitcoin reserve put into that bill and also a budget neutral way for them to be able to buy Bitcoin for the reserve. If you're in the audience right now or you're watching on the live stream, you have heard about market structure for a long time. And the question I get most often, I'm sure all of you get is, "Well, what's next?" And Jason, you brought up dimminimus. Tax policy is what I perceive as what's next. It's so critically important to get clean tax policy done. Janessa at Block, you guys have been leading on this. I've seen a very cool car go around Capitol Hill advocating for clear tax policy for Bitcoin. Where are we on tax policy right now when the conversation has been so consumed with market structure? What's been going on in Washington on digital asset tax? Yeah. So, as you said, crypto tax is next. Postmarket structure. For us, our been our priority at Block has been the dimminimous tax exemption for Bitcoin payments and making sure that anytime somebody uses Bitcoin as a form of money that it's treated as such under the tax code. Simple as that. And so, um I I would say where things stand, there's a few bills that people should be aware of in the Senate. Senator Lumis introduced her crypto tax package last summer, which includes things like wash sales, making sure mining and staking rewards are taxed at sale and not creation, and of course, dimminimus for all digital assets. In the House, recently there was a bipartisan bill introduced that touched on all of those provisions, but it had a problematic dimminimus proposal that only applies dimminimus to stable coins under $200 and does not capture Bitcoin or all other digital assets. And so that's a real argument that's growing in policymaker conversations where they think that that might be an acceptable compromise. And so we're pushing really hard on the on the policy front to try to make sure that that's not an acceptable approach that will be adopted. And really the reason is stable coins are pegged to the US dollar. There is no fluctuation. So they shouldn't even have capital gains tax to begin with. We're advocating for stable coins to be treated like cash cashike equivalents. Um, and then the second reason that this is concerning is because if Congress applies a dimminimus just to stable coins and not all other digital assets, then they're essentially picking winners and losers. They're no longer taking a techneutral approach to policym, which is what we like to see. And so, we're advocating for dimminimist to apply to all digital assets, including Bitcoin. Otherwise, it's non-starter for us. >> It's it's critically important. We always have the conversation about like can I use my Bitcoin to buy a cup of coffee? And I think it's so critical for the audience out here to understand why that dimminimus is so important. How are your conversations going with lawmakers? You mentioned some of the legislative efforts, Senator Lumis, the bipartisan bill that came out of the House recently or discussion draft that came house. How are the conversations going and trying to build a broad coalition? I think they're going really well and it's important that all of us are kind of boots on the ground educating members about why this is important for us. As you probably know, we launched a product at the end of last year, the Square Bitcoin payments product where now Square sellers are able to accept Bitcoin at the point of sale through any lightning enabled wallet with zero fees. And so I think explaining that we actually have the technology there present now has been a home run with policy makers where they're like okay we're not talking about a hypothetical future anymore. We're actually talking about a real world use case that needs tax reform now. Um and so our conversations have been effective. I think we're still in this uphill battle where there's a lot of education still to be done. A lot of policy makers are very early on in their understanding of crypto tax and dimminimus entirely. So, a lot of work to be done, but I think we're doing we're doing what we should be doing. >> Can I just pick up on that thread real quick because I think um you raised a great point about that the technology is there as a payment mechanism. That is how Bitcoin operates. And right now I think that there some things are getting lost in translation. We have leaned so heavily on the fact that Bitcoin is digital gold and people then think about that as property rather than the fact that it can be used for payments and is and that transfer of value has been critical and I think we have to get we have to bridge that gap of the the understanding about what the technology can do and I think the the real world examples is exactly how we're going to get to a dimminimus that makes sense for Bitcoin and doesn't leave it behind and pretend like it's not a payment mechanism. Yeah, exactly. And I think the real world utility is super important here. And it's not only just Bitcoin payments that we're advocating for. It's also gas fees. Like these microtransactions need to be eliminated in the reporting. Um AI agentic payments are huge for the future and they largely prefer blockchain based payments like Bitcoin over fiat. And so when we look at the future like this need is going to grow exponentially. And not to mention the burden this imposes to the IRS that's completely unmanageable and unworkable. So, a lot of reasons that I think are gaining steam and arguments that are hitting home with people. >> And if I could just add real quick, I think that from our conversations that we've had with Representative Horschird's office around these issues, there seems to be a gap between the legislative branch and then not even the political branch, but I would say on the like civil servant side of the aisle. And I think there needs to be some better communications between the legislators, the policy makers and the actual people that are supposed to be like implementing this stuff that um there seems to be sort of a gap uh between there and hopefully that we can engage with those people on the implementation side and the executive branch too to get them up to speed on what's happening on the hill. What can folks and I maybe Janessa I'll start with you but it's for everyone. What can folks who are watching right now or in the audience who have probably been consumed as well and following the market structure debate because it has been the number one legislative effort who are now starting to understand maybe from this panel for the first time why tax policy is so critical. What can they do themselves as real users out there and consumers to try to get some of these legislative efforts or regulatory efforts or make at least their lawmaker aware of what's going on? >> Yeah, I think that's really important. We ran a campaign at the end of last year in DC raising awareness about the dimminimous tax issue and as part of that we created a website that I encourage everyone to go to. It's called btcismoney.xyz XYZ and on it you can literally just type in your zip code and it will populate your representative and your senators and you can contact them with a pre-drafted email that you can just copy and paste and send advocating for Dominus for Bitcoin payments and helping make Bitcoin everyday money. So, we have that resource as a tool for people. I'd also encourage people to go to their local Square sellers and pay with Bitcoin and get them onboarded and informed about it if they don't already know that they have this capability. Um, I think both of those things are things that people can do now to help. >> Dennis, pull back the curtain for everyone out there of what it's like to go into a meeting with whether it's a state lawmaker or a member of Congress or a member of the administration who maybe has never heard of Bitcoin. What is that? We've all had I we've all had one of those meetings. I see all of you in Washington all the time. What is that meeting like? How do we begin the education journey? Because the education gap is still wide for a lot of members of Congress. It's closing quickly because a lot of the efforts of all of you on stage. What is that meeting like? I mean, I think it's critically important when you're talking to someone who hasn't ever been educated on the issue that you start at the basics and the fundamentals in a way that they can easily digest them. And that can be very difficult because crypto and this entire Bitcoin space can be very complex. And so breaking those issues down in a way that's easy to understand whether you're doing it through analogy or by comparing it to things that exist in the world real world is very very important because a lot of times lawmakers they're inundated and staff are inundated with new concepts and new policies all the time. They're they're exhausted. I mean many many people here have worked on Capitol Hill. they know what it's like to take these meetings back to back to back to back and then have to turn around and do notes and then turn around and do it all over again the next day. Um so breaking it down in the simplest and easiest way to digest as humanly possible is the key to getting there because if you start using an if you start using uh industry lingo and like blockchain and proof of work often times even those types of terms are making their brain you know make realize that they don't understand what the hell is being discussed. And so eliminating jargon, eliminating those industry talking points is really really helpful when you're when you're trying to educate a lawmaker or anybody really, even just the general public on Bitcoin. >> I think Dennis hit a good point. I I remember when we used to go on and talk about Bitcoin mining and members of Congress would be like with shovels, >> hard hats on your face. Yeah. >> Car, I've always been so impressed with the way Coinbase highlights the real world use cases. Has that been one of the most effective policy to advocacy tools for you as you go in and talk to offices? >> Absolutely. What I think has really changed the game though for Coinbase is um the users and actually the community and the advocates and Brian Armstrong had a vision a few years ago saying that the there are advocates out there in the crypto community that will stand up and will actually make their voices heard and will come to Washington and we'll talk about how whether it's Bitcoin or stable coins or any other type of digital asset how that is changing their lives. And we were skeptical a little bit as Washington Washington insiders. I think a lot of times we grow really um desensitized to what people want at the grassroots level. And he was absolutely right. And now over 3 million people have signed up for stand with crypto and they are coming to Washington. Over 600,000 emails went in about this one issue related to rewards and being able to earn rewards on uh stable coins. people are really engaged and there that effort is I think what has changed the game in terms of market structure because it has such a broad application and broad influence but I think on tax that is the second most thing that we've ever had um when we had the broker reporting rules that was the first time they turned the switch on for the advocates and hundreds of thousands of emails went into the IRS on the broker reporting rules that is an incredible feat and it's because of all of you that care about this and I would give one shameless plug uh midterms are coming up in November. We don't have an existential issue right now for crypto in America, but again, that can flip with a switch. And I think we need to make sure that we keep uh Congress, we keep uh folks accountable, whether it's in the state uh state houses where Dennis spends a ton of time, we have to make sure that lawmakers are thinking about crypto policy and understanding that you all are out there and you will vote on it. Janessa, from a consumer perspective and getting, you know, retail users engaged, we always talk about one of the benefits of Bitcoin is expanding access access to financial services. Are you seeing any regulation out there or law that are is holding back Bitcoin from reaching its potential and providing access, democratizing finance, access to Bitcoin? Yeah, this question is super important because it's aligned with our entire mission at Block, which is economic empowerment. And so I kind of think about it in terms of how we build our Bitcoin products at the company to enable that access more greatly for the average user, the average American. So for example, on Cash App, you can buy, sell, store, spend your Bitcoin through the Lightning Network instantly. And a Square merchant can now accept that payment instantly and for free also through lightning. Neither the consumer nor the seller has to understand how the lightning network works on the back end. They have to know zero about that. All they know is they received a payment instantly. And that has been a major barrier to adoption of Bitcoin in the past of like how clunky it was to use, how much you had to learn about it in order to actually be onboarded. And so that's now like seamless due to our products and technology. And same with um BitKey. People can self-custody their Bitcoin without even having to remember their seed phrase. Proto, we're decentralizing mining. So all of these products have that goal in mind. And that's the approach we take to policy as well. Like we want to support policies that make it so users don't have to think about the regulatory and tax implications of them wanting to use Bitcoin as money, for instance. So, Dominimus is a huge unlock. I think that's one of our top priorities for sure. Second, I would also want to mention um developer protections included in the market structure bill. Major priority to get passed this year as well. Um, if a software developer is creating something that can be perceived as unlicensed money transmission, then they have the the real risk of being prosecuted and potentially thrown in jail for that for writing code and um that puts self-custody wallet providers at risk, miners, validators, node operators, um, a lot of industry participants that protect protect the infrastructure. And so that bill is called the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act and that's our other main priority. >> This panel is going alarmingly fast. We have two minutes left. Um we've talked market structure now. We've talked tax, we've talked state policy, access. The description for the panel that the Bitcoin conference gave us asked us to explore where current policies are falling short. I want to ask each of you and Dennis maybe we'll start with you and go down the line. Well, I would hate to miss the opportunity to bring up the Admiral Paparo hearing that happened in armed services where he was explaining that Bitcoin and proof of work is of national security interest. That because of Jason Lowry and his thesis that he wrote 3 years ago, who deserves a ton of credit, all the credit really for the outcome that we saw in this hearing that the military is now exploring the usage of Bitcoin for national defense. In fact, they're even running a Bitcoin node right now and exploring different types of use cases. There's going to be more coming from this. uh it's not as much on like the policy side. Obviously, this is sort of internal to the military, but there are things that we can do on the policy side to make it easier for the military to be actual to be able to actually truly study uh Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining for the purposes of national defense. >> Janessa, >> yeah, I would say in the immediate term, it's passing market structure, getting clear licensing frameworks in the United States and including the BRCA. Like I mentioned, >> I agree with both Janessa and Dennis, but something that Dennis mentioned on uh strategic Bitcoin reserve and sort of the national security aspects of it in regards to budgetneutral ways that the US government can acquire more Bitcoin. partnerships with Bitcoin miners and the Department of Defense and the government, whether that's mining on methane or landfills or uh uh underutilized energy assets the United States has, it's sort of dual. It's for the economy and it's for national security. And that's something that doesn't need the a legislative process to get done. >> Great. I think if if answering just specifically what are we getting wrong right now, I think we're doing a lot of things right. I think Congress is doing a lot of really amazing work on the Clarity Act and I am bullish that that will get done. Where I think we're getting it wrong right now is our tax policy and we just went through and we just released a study from Coinbase on how many 1099DA forms we had to file for our customers. It's I mean it's absolutely astronomical and it and and having just done my own taxes, I had to get an extension because I didn't know how to do it. These are the crazy things that everyday Americans have to figure out. And we can't have a tax policy that disincentivizes the the ownership and use of digital assets, whether it's Bitcoin, stable coins, we have to make sure we have a tax policy that works and allows for retail investors to understand how to do it and unlocks it for institutional. One of the biggest um complaints that we hear from institutional clients, they don't know how the tax policy applies. Even if we get market structure right, if we don't fix the tax system, that is going to be a barrier in and of itself to adoption. >> Ladies and gentlemen, these are the advocates that are fixing the policies holding Bitcoin back. Carara, Jason, Janessa, Dennis, thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> Thank you.