Crypto Market Update: House Democrats Push Back on GOP Crypto Tax Bill

Bitcoin (BTC) was priced at US$61,809.34, trading 0.1 percent higher over the past 24 hours.

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Today's crypto news to know

House impasse deepens over crypto legislation

A House Ways & Means Committee hearing on six Republican-backed crypto tax bills exposed a sharp partisan divide on Tuesday (June 9), threatening to stall the legislation ahead of November’s midterm elections.

With Democrats favored to potentially retake the House, Republicans are racing to pass crypto-friendly bills while their party still controls Congress and the White House; meanwhile, Democrats are arguing that the process needs to be slowed down to answer outstanding regulatory questions.

A primary point of friction centers on the tax treatment of staking and mining rewards.

One GOP bill proposes exempting these rewards from reportable income upon receipt, a move Democrats warn could unfairly advantage crypto over traditional corporate stocks and bonds.

Meanwhile, crypto executives are pressuring lawmakers to broaden the bills, pushing for larger de minimis exemptions.

Currently, the legislation includes a US$10 exemption for network gas fees and eliminates reporting requirements on stablecoins by treating them as fiat equivalents for tax purposes.

UK regulator proposes 10 percent crypto limit for mutual funds

The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed a new framework that would allow retail investment funds to hold up to 10 percent of their portfolios in cryptocurrencies.

The proposal specifically targets British open-ended investment funds, which pool retail investor capital into actively managed portfolios. According to the FCA, capping digital asset exposure at the 10 percent threshold will help protect retail investors from severe market shocks associated with crypto volatility.

Supporters view the move as a major milestone toward the mainstream acceptance of digital asset investment vehicles.

The initiative follows a growing global trend of institutional adoption spurred by the US regulatory approval of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024.

Japan’s mega-banks to launch joint stablecoins by March 2027

Japan’s three largest financial institutions announced plans on Wednesday to jointly issue stablecoins during the current fiscal year ending in March 2027.

According to Reuters, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group said they establish a collaborative council to finalize operational frameworks and prepare for the upcoming rollouts.

The joint initiative is receiving direct support from Japan’s Financial Services Agency, which is backing the experimental phase to modernize the country's payment architecture using blockchain technology.

Japan’s domestic stablecoin market has already seen early traction, with startup JPYC launching a yen-pegged token last October.

Morpho raises new capital to fund global expansion

Lending protocol Morpho has raised US$175 million at a US$2 billion valuation, co-led by Paradigm, a16z Crypto and Ribbit Capital, with strategic participation from Apollo Funds and VanEck.

“Morpho’s vision of traditional finance using blockchain networks to become more efficient and effective is becoming a reality before our eyes,” said Guy Wuollet, general partner at a16z crypto.

“The simplicity and security of its technology continue to push borrowing and lending forward for some of the world’s leading financial institutions. We’re proud to continue to back Morpho as they deliver on the promise of providing more efficient and accessible credit for anyone who needs it.”

Ethena partners with Centrifuge

Ethena, the team behind the crypto stablecoin USDe, has chosen tokenization platform Centrifuge as its partner to buy tokenized real-world assets for the first time. Ethena will invest in JAAA, the Janus Henderson Anemoy AAA CLO ETF, which is a tokenized version of a traditional ETF holding AAA-rated collateralized loan obligations.

Previously, USDe only held staked ETH and similar digital assets. Adding institutional-grade traditional finance debt aims to generate short-duration, high-quality credit yield.