White House advisors renew push for 30% digital mining energy tax
The Biden administration has renewed its push for a 30% Digital Asset Mining Energy (DAME) tax on cryptocurrency miners, part of efforts to minimize the industry’s alleged impact on climate change.
The proposed crypto-mining tax was first announced on March 9 as part of President Biden's FY2024 budget and seeks to impose a phased-in 30% excise tax on electricity used by crypto-miners.
Today the CEA released a blog highlighting a new tax in the President’s budget, the Digital Asset Mining Excise Tax (“DAME Tax”), a tax equal to 30 percent of the cost of the electricity cryptominers use once fully phased in. 1/ https://t.co/944x0wVVB5
“An excise tax on electricity usage by digital asset miners could reduce mining activity along with its associated environmental impacts and other harms,” the Department of Treasury wrote at the time. Bitcoin (BTC) fell under $20,000 just a day later.
However, a May 2 statement from the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) has brought the proposal back to light again, in attempts to justify the need for the new tax.
“Currently, cryptomining firms do not have to pay for the full cost they impose on others, in the form of local environmental pollution, higher energy prices, and the impacts of increased greenhouse gas emissions on the climate,” the CEA wrote.
#Bitcoin mining is good for the grid and good for the environment, yet Biden wants to tax it 30% and send this valuable industry into the hands of Russia.
“The DAME tax encourages firms to start taking better account of the harms they impose on society,” it wrote, adding:
The blog also referenced reports suggesting crypto mining has “negative spillovers” on the environment, quality of life, and electricity grids and that pollution
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