U.S. Senate to Vote on IRS Broker Rule This Week: Report

A CoinDesk report published on Monday states that the U.S. Senate is expected to vote this week on whether to reverse an Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule finalized in December 2024, which classifies certain DeFi participants as brokers.

Will The IRS’s DeFi Broker Rule Be Overturned?

A source familiar with the Senate schedule told CoinDesk that the IRS rule treating DeFi participants as brokers could be overturned this week.

1/ @SenTedCruz’s CRA resolution to roll back the DeFi Broker Rule – anti-crypto, anti-privacy IRS midnight rulemaking – is critical to providing clarity for crypto and DeFi in the US.

Congress should vote YES on the CRA.

This has been a long battle… How did we get here? 👇

— Kristin Smith (@KMSmithDC) February 12, 2025

News of the vote follows a joint resolution introduced earlier this year by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and Representative Mike Carey (R-OH) under the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

The resolution seeks to overturn the IRS regulation titled “Gross Proceeds Reporting by Brokers That Regularly Provide Services Effectuating Digital Asset Sales.”

Details about the vote remain limited, but it represents an effort by lawmakers and industry figures to challenge the IRS rule on DeFi broker classification.

“This regulation undermines the purpose of DeFi technology: to enable individuals to freely buy, sell, and exchange digital assets,” Cruz said in a January 2025 statement. “America’s goal should be to prioritize innovation, and this rule is the opposite.”

Senate Expected to Vote on CRA Resolution This Week

Multiple crypto industry groups have opposed the IRS rule, with The Blockchain Association leading a mid-February Congressional letter calling for its reversal.

“The DeFi broker rule, finalized in the waning days of the Biden administration, represents regulatory overreach that fundamentally misunderstands the technology it attempts to regulate and ignores Congress’s intent,” the crypto trade organization stated.

The Blockchain Association argues that the rule wrongly classifies technology infrastructure as financial intermediaries, while supporters contend that it is necessary for tax compliance.

For the resolution to take effect, it must pass both the House and the Senate before reaching the president’s desk for approval or veto.

The outcome could shape how DeFi is regulated in the U.S. going forward, with broader implications for the crypto industry.

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