The U.S. cryptocurrency industry urged Congress to quickly process a tax bill that would exclude mining and staking rewards from taxable income.

On June 22, blockchain outlet Decrypt reported that the industry argued that rewriting the bill’s language could weaken momentum, and that it should be passed while keeping the current compromise.

The request came in a letter sent by three industry groups — the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Innovation Council and the Digital Chamber of Commerce — to Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill they are backing, the Mining and Staking Tax Clarity Act, centers on excluding newly generated digital assets from mining and staking from holders’ reportable income.

U.S. taxpayers currently must report mined cryptocurrencies and staking rewards as income even if they have not sold them. The industry says this structure makes even assets before actual disposal subject to taxation, and it is calling for changes.

The bill, however, was cited as the most controversial item among six crypto tax bills discussed at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing earlier this month. House Democrats see the bill as potentially making cryptocurrency more favorable than traditionally taxed investment assets such as stocks and bonds. Concerns were also raised that it could affect the allocation of funds across financial markets.

In the letter, the industry groups defined the current draft as effectively the final compromise. They argued that "revising an already reached compromise again could revive issues that had been problematic and could delay a bipartisan outcome that has finally come into view."

A problem is that it is unclear whether House Democrats will view it as a genuine bipartisan compromise. House Democratic leadership had previously said it would not process any crypto tax bill before the November midterm elections. At present, Democrats are widely being discussed as having a high chance of winning back a House majority, and if that happens they would wield greater influence over the direction of future crypto legislation.

The Digital Chamber of Commerce plans to send about 10 member companies to Congress this week to persuade lawmakers to pass the bill. Asked about the likelihood of passage before the midterms, the group said these on-the-ground meetings would be a good opportunity to gauge the level of motivation. It said it intends to directly confirm how much willingness remains to move the bill forward.

This time pressure is also being applied to the Clarity Act being discussed in the Senate. The bill includes provisions to revise the U.S. securities law framework and formally legalise most crypto activity in the United States. Supporters believe that if it does not pass by August, it may be difficult to legislate it in the near term.

Ultimately, crypto tax discussions in the U.S. Congress have entered a phase in which industry demands and the political calendar are colliding head-on. The bill over taxing mining and staking rewards is becoming a test of how quickly the U.S. Congress can advance crypto legislation ahead of the midterm elections, beyond a detailed tax overhaul.