Cynthia Lummis, one of two U.S. senators from Wyoming who has announced plans to leave the House in 2027, has reignited push for a de minimis tax exclusion on small cryptocurrency transactions as the Senate debates a bill on digital asset market structure.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Lummis said that the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee were considering a $300 exemption to allow crypto users to better use Bitcoin (BTC) for transactions without paying capital gains taxes.
The Wyoming senator’s statement followed presentation of a stand-alone bill in July 2025, proposing a de minimis tax exemption for crypto transactions below $300, with an annual limit of $5,000.
“We’re trying to figure out how to weigh in, in the appropriate way, to decide when a sale — for example of Bitcoin — should be subject to capital gains and when it should be allowed to be used as a simple medium of exchange in the same way we use the U.S. dollar,” Lummis said.
Lummis, who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, said his fellow Democrats are still not voting “yes” on the crypto market structure bill, which was passed by the House of Representatives as the CLARITY Act in July 2025.
The committee was scheduled to conduct a review of the bill in January, but the chairman, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, postponed the meeting indefinitely after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange could not support the legislation “as written”, citing concerns about symbolic actions.
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The Wyoming senator has been one of the strongest advocates of the market structure bill in Congress. However, Lummis announced in December that she would not seek re-election in the Senate, making his last day in January 2027.
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Concerns about the bill’s market structure, ranging from token stock, responsibilities of U.S. financial regulators, ethics regarding potential conflicts of interest, and stable coin yield, have effectively blocked the legislation’s advancement in the Senate.
However, last week, US President Donald Trump turned to social media to urge banking groups to “make a good deal” with the crypto industry, adding that banks cannot hold the CLARITY Act hostage. As of Monday, the Senate Banking Committee had not rescheduled review of the bill.
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