November 10, 2025

This week in digital asset federal policy

This week decoded

This week in digital asset federal policy, Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-AR) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) spoke with White House Crypto & AI Czar David Sacks as they finalize a discussion draft of the Committee’s CFTC-focused portion of market structure legislation. Booker is reportedly advocating for language that would enforce the existing requirement that the CFTC include minority members, and raised the priority on the call with Sacks. After the call, Boozman said he was feeling “95 percent” aligned on the bill.

In the Administration, the IRS released new FAQs on digital asset broker information reporting.

Read more below

Congress

Hearings

LAST WEEK

No relevant hearings were scheduled last week.

THIS WEEK

No relevant hearings are scheduled this week.

Correspondence

Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL) led 27 House Democrats in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent opposing President Trump’s pardon of Changpeng Zhao, the founder and former CEO of Binance, who was convicted of violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws. (Letter)

Trump Administration

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

The IRS released new FAQs on digital asset broker information reporting. The informal guidance confirms the requirement of reporting sale transactions that a broker facilitates for its customers, including kiosks. The guidance also states brokers can only use customer-provided acquisition information for lot ordering purposes only and may not rely on it to report a customer’s basis, but purchase price information from transferring brokers can be used for determining which digital assets were sold; brokers should file separate Forms 1099-DA when a customer sells a specified NFT they minted as well as a specified NFT they didn’t mint; and the broker only needs to consider if a stablecoin de-pegged on its own trading platform during the 10-day measurement period. According to analysis, the FAQs highlight an existing point of confusion on the Form 1099-DA regarding sales of NFTs. (FAQs)(Tax Notes)

Federal Reserve

Fed Governor Stephen Miran delivered remarks on A Global Stablecoin Glut: Implications for Monetary Policy at the BCVC Summit 2025 in which he said, “My thesis is that stablecoins are already increasing demand for U.S. Treasury bills and other dollar-denominated liquid assets by purchasers outside the United States and that this demand will continue growing. All else equal, this new demand lowers borrowing costs for the U.S. government. However, as a central banker, my focus is on what I believe may be a substantial and long-term force putting downward pressure on a crucial guideline for monetary policymakers known as r*… There are several open questions with respect to the impact of stablecoins on U.S. monetary policy: How many assets will be managed by stablecoin issuers? Will the funds come from domestic or foreign sources, and where might substitution pull funds out of the banking system? What are the systemic risks related to runs on stablecoins? Since monetary policy must be forward looking, my colleagues and I would be best served exploring these topics now.” (Remarks)

Treasury Department

The comment period for the advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) on implementation of the GENIUS Act closed on November 4 with 449 comments submitted. Comments can be viewed here.

Noteworthy Quotes and Events

ADMINISTRATION

White House

When asked during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes about his pardon of Changpeng Zhao, President Trump said “Are you ready? I don’t know who he is… Here’s the thing, I know nothing about it… He’s a very successful guy. I was told that he was a victim, just like I was and just like many other people, of a vicious, horrible group of people in the Biden administration.”

AI & Crypto Czar David Sacks posted “Thank you Chairman JohnBoozman & Senator CoryBooker for a constructive discussion today about the crypto market structure legislation before Senate Ag Committee. I am encouraged by the great progress so far, and look forward to a bipartisan draft in the near future.”

CONGRESS

Market Structure Legislation

Senate Agriculture Chair John Boozman (R-AR) said of the committee’s forthcoming bipartisan market structure discussion draft, “There’ll probably be some areas that we don’t totally agree on, and those will be highlighted.” (Politico)

Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) said of Ag Committee negotiations, “Senator Boozman and my staff are working well together and we’re making a lot of progress… I want to keep these conversations private.” (Punchbowl)

Sen. Roger Marshall (R-MS) said he is “still concerned that crypto is used by a lot of criminals.” He added, “They need to help me understand how we’re going to know our customers better and how we can not let it be such a tool for organized crime.” (Politico)

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said of staff-level progress on legislation, “They’re lengthy, they’re ongoing and the spirit of the negotiations is one of real camaraderie in terms of finding language that both parties can agree on.” (Politico)

Lummis posted “Market structure is the most important piece of digital asset legislation in United States history, and the time is now. SenGillibrand and I have been working on this since 2022, and our ideas are battle tested.”

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) said, “Right now, everybody’s watching virtually every comment we make. I’m not going in with any preconceived basic language that I’m acting on. People got to start talking to each other, not past each other.” (Punchbowl)

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-OH) said the remaining time for Senate action this year, “The only thing that could impede us is understanding where we are on the calendar, just to be able to get things on the floor.” (Punchbowl)

House Committee on Agriculture posted “Despite the ongoing government shutdown, momentum continues to build behind the CLARITY Act—our bipartisan effort to create clear rules for digital assets.”

Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) posted “It’s time to pass CLARITY and make the US the global leader in Digital Assets!”

CZ Pardon

Of crypto industry influence in the Trump Administration, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said, “I hope my Democratic colleagues will notice what’s happening around us. The industry is buying pardons and currying favor by helping Trump illegally knock down the White House, funding his military parades. I don’t know that Democrats are well served by just looking the other way on all of that behavior.” He added, “If we write a bill that continues to create a legal structure for the president’s corruption, we will live to rue the day that we did that. I just hope nobody is looking at the GENIUS Act as a model for the broader regulatory framework of the industry.” He also said, “Their industry is going to be an important industry in this country and in this economy and yes, of course, we want to regulate them.” (Punchbowl)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) said “The people who have provided assistance to drug traffickers and terrorists and people who sell access to human beings have learned that if they offer enough money and enough flattery to Donald Trump, evidently, they can once again be major players in the crypto world. It looks a lot like bribery, right out in the open for everyone to see.” (Politico)

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said, “I weighed in two years ago, and I still think that what I did two years ago was appropriate at the time. But what the president does with his pardon authority is up to the president and the president alone, and I’m not going to second-guess it.” (Politico)

Rep. Kelly Morrison (D-MN) posted “Trump pardoned a crypto billionaire who laundered money for terrorist organizations -- but claims he ‘doesnt know who he is.’ So is he lying? Or who is issuing these pardons?”

Rep. Lori Trahan (D-MA) posted “First, a billionaire crypto executive turned a blind eye to money laundering and pleaded guilty. Then, he funneled billions to Trump to get a pardon. Now, Trump claims he doesn’t know who he is. They think we’re stupid.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) posted “The Trump family crypto grift and the Binance pardon boil down to one thing: CORRUPTION. Trump is profiting off the presidency every day, while leaving Americans out in the cold.”

Rep. Pramila Jayapal posted (D-WA) posted “A crypto billionaire pled guilty to money laundering. Trump then pardoned him, but said “I know nothing about the guy” and that he has “no idea who he is.” Is he lying or clueless?”

Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ) posted “On Friday, I released the latest episode of my Trump Corruption World Tour series about Trump’s pardon of a criminal crypto billionaire who padded Trump’s pockets. Now Trump says he knew nothing about the pardon he signed. What BS!”

Miscellaneous

In a profile in CQ Roll Call, Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) spoke about the role of digital assets in broadening economic opportunities, “The goal is creating greater access points because essential authority has been removed by an open ledger, giving more people real-time access to resources for a significantly lower transaction price point. That’s just music to my ears. It’s about single moms like the one that raised me, giving her greater access and opportunities in the financial system.” (Politico summary)

Sen. Cynthia Lummis (D-WY) posted “Digital assets are the future, and we need to make sure community banks are embracing the opportunity to bank both fiat currency and digital assets.”

Lummis also posted “Wyoming leads the nation in growth of start-up companies, and digital assets are paving the way. I am proud to work every day to diversify Wyoming’s economy and ensure the future of the Cowboy State is bright.”

On Circle’s decision to facilitate firearm purchases, Lummis said, “Circle’s decision to allow legal purchases of firearms using its stablecoin takes a powerful stand against the discrimination targeting lawful gun owners. By aligning its terms of service with existing legal requirements rather than imposing additional restrictions, Circle is defending our constitutional rights and ensuring our financial systems cannot be weaponized against law-abiding gun owners and legal industries.” (Crypto in America)

On Circle’s decision, Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said, “This is a reversal of Choke Point–inspired mechanisms to end run the legislative process and surreptitiously achieve liberal partisan goals. America will no longer stand for this weaponization of our financial system.” (Crypto in America)

What I’m Reading This Week

Digital Asset Reporting Triply Highlighted, Part 2, Carrie Brandon Elliot, Tax Notes.

New FAQ Clarifies Crypto Broker Reporting Requirements, Mary Catherine Browne, Tax Notes.

How is Cryptocurrency Taxed? Current Rules and Outstanding Questions, Bipartisan Policy Center.