The White House is pushing for a tax on cryptocurrency miners to “pay a fair share” for the costs to local communities and the environment.
The White House Council of Economic Advisers said in a note that the electricity used in crypto-mining was about the same as the electricity used for all home computers or residential lighting in the country. blog post Published on Tuesday.
According to a chart within the post, crypto-mining was used more in US homes than computers, clothes washers and dishwashers combined.
The Biden administration proposed a digital asset mining energy excise tax, or DAME, in its fiscal year 2024 budget. in March,
Under that proposal, companies would oppose a tax equivalent to 30 percent of the cost of electricity used.
The tax will be implemented next year and will gradually increase at a rate of 10 percent per year over a three-year period to reach a target rate of 30 percent by the end of 2026, according to previous cryptonews reporting,
“Currently, cryptomining firms do not have to pay the full costs imposed on others in the form of local environmental pollution, higher energy prices and the effects of rising greenhouse gas emissions on the climate,” the council said on Tuesday. “DAME encourages tax firms to start better accounting for the harm they impose on society.”
The council said pollution from generating electricity falls disproportionately on low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.
The Council of Economic Advisers is an agency within the Executive Office of the President and is charged with advising the President on economic matters.
“The intense and often unstable power consumption of cryptominers can also drive up electricity prices for consumers and increase the risk to local electrical grid-stressed equipment, causing service interruptions and security hazards,” the council said. ”
environmental concerns
President Biden has been very vocal about fighting the climate crisis Plan of To reduce US greenhouse gas emissions by 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Congress would have to come up with the tax proposal because it has the sole authority to make laws.
It is unlikely that Republicans have control of the House of Representatives.
Several Republican lawmakers have shown unfriendliness toward tighter restrictions on crypto, while cheering innovation in the field.
condemnation on twitter
Some took to Twitter on Wednesday morning, including former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, to criticize the tax.
Brian Quintenz, formerly of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, argued against the administration’s views regarding electricity use.
“So apparently it doesn’t matter where the electricity comes from – coal, gas, 100% renewable, etc. If the government doesn’t like how you use energy, you will be punished,” Quintenz said.
Quintenz was a Republican commissioner on the CFTC and is now head of policy at crypto venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, also known as a16z.