Article
【U.S. Senator Daines proposes ADAPT bill to exempt stablecoin payments from capital gains tax and introduce wash-sale rules】
U.S. Senator Steve Daines (a Republican from Montana and member of the Senate Finance Committee) formally introduced a digital asset tax bill spanning 56 pages, titled the “Keeping Digital Assets Aligned with Tax Principles Act” (ADAPT Act). The bill aims to establish clearer tax rules for stablecoin payments, network fees, staking, and lending, and would extend existing tax rules on wash sales and constructive sales to digital assets. A core provision of the bill stipulates that taxpayers generally would not need to recognize gains or losses when using compliant USD stablecoins to purchase goods and services. It would also exempt qualifying consumer transactions from broker information-reporting obligations, although the exemption would not apply to trader and market-maker activities. The bill would extend wash-sale and constructive-sale rules to digital assets, while excluding compliant stablecoins from the constructive-sale provision to limit loss harvesting involving crypto assets. In addition, the bill would exempt digital assets used to pay 10 USD or less in network, transaction, or Gas fees from gain or loss recognition, and would allow qualifying digital asset dealers and traders to elect mark-to-market accounting. The bill also addresses the source-of-income rules for staking and mining, a nonrecognition framework for digital asset lending, a safe harbor for transactions by foreign investors, and definitions for classifying digital assets. Most provisions would apply to taxable years or transactions after December 31, 2026. Previously, the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee passed its own Digital Asset Tax Clarity Act on September 16 by a vote of 38 to 5.