President Joe Biden Critiques “Wealthy Crypto Investors” on Twitter

US President Joe Biden critiqued “wealthy crypto investors” in a tweet on Tuesday discussing what “MAGA House Republicans” want to cut in the federal budget.

“We think Congress should cut tax loopholes that help wealthy crypto investors ($18 billion),” President Biden said. “MAGA Republicans think Congress should cut food safety inspections ($15 billion).”

MAGA stands for Make American Great Again, a slogan used by former President Donald Trump.

“We don’t have to guess what MAGA House Republicans value. They’re telling us,” he said. 

We don’t have to guess what MAGA House Republicans value. They’re telling us. pic.twitter.com/BM6JGMEFeq

— President Biden (@POTUS) May 9, 2023

Crypto in Biden’s budget 

This comes after President Biden proposed in his fiscal year 2024 budget what is dubbed the Digital Asset Mining Excise tax, or DAME. 

Under that proposal, firms would contend with a tax equal to 30 percent of the cost of the electricity used. 

The tax would be implemented next year and phased in gradually over a period of three years at a rate of 10 percent a year to then reach the target 30% rate by the end of 2026, according to previous cryptonews reporting. 

The White House pushed for that tax recently in a blog post published last week citing concerns over how much electricity crypto-mining uses. 

Electricity used in crypto-mining was similar to what is used to power all of the country’s home computers or residential lighting, the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers said. 

President Biden has also proposed in his budget changing the tax treatment for “wash sales” of digital assets. 

The budget proposes applying “wash sale rules” to digital assets.
 

Those rules prevent taxpayers from taking a tax deduction for a loss in a wash sale — when an investor buys a security 30 days before or 30 days after selling an identical or similar security, according to Investopedia.