66 cryptocurrency organizations, including Coinbase, the Uniswap Foundation, and the Blockchain Association, have sent a letter to President Donald Trump
The letter demanded that immediate action be taken at the federal level to clarify the tax situation, provide temporary legal protection for DeFi developers, and drop charges against Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm.
A group led by the Solana Policy Institute argues that the lack of clear rules slows down the adoption of digital assets and discourages ordinary users and developers from participating in Web3 networks.
In the document, the coalition outlined specific actions that federal agencies can take without Congressional approval. For example, the letter requests the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service to publish rules according to which rewards for staking and mining will be considered self-created property and taxed upon sale, not upon creation.
In addition to tax issues, the letter highlights the importance of protecting innovations that do not require authorization. In particular, it requests the provision of a "safe harbor" for DeFi protocols, which would allow developers to create "open financial instruments without fear of retroactive measures."
The coalition called on the Ministry of Justice to drop all charges against Roman Storm, the developer of Tornado Cash, who was found guilty on August 6 of conspiring to run an unlicensed money transfer business. He now faces up to five years in prison. The jury could not reach a consensus on two additional charges — conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to violate sanctions.
Storm remains free on bail pending sentencing on December 18.
