The White House on Thursday confirmed that President Donald Trump remains committed to carving out a de minimis tax safe‑harbor for everyday Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency payments, a policy his economic team believes will let digital money function “as simply as buying a cup of coffee.”
Trump Backs Bitcoin And Crypto Tax Exemption
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt made the remarks during the daily briefing after Bitcoin Magazine correspondent Frank Corva pressed the administration on whether the president still stands behind the $600 threshold he first floated earlier this year. “The president did signal his support for a de minimis exemption for crypto, and the administration continues to be in support of that,” Leavitt said, adding that the Treasury and Congress are “exploring legislative solutions to accomplish that.”
Leavitt argued the measure would remove the micro‑accounting burden that currently forces users to calculate capital‑gains tax every time they spend appreciated digital assets. “Right now that cannot happen, but with a de minimis exemption perhaps it could in the future,” she told reporters, framing the carve‑out as critical to Trump’s pledge to make the United States “the crypto capital of the world.”
The exemption is expected to surface in follow‑on tax legislation later this year, but it already has momentum on Capitol Hill. The House on Wednesday advanced the bipartisan Genius Act, the first comprehensive federal framework for stablecoins, and a separate bill that would write a de minimis standard directly into the Internal Revenue Code. The Genius Act cleared the chamber 308‑122 and is scheduled for a Rose Garden signing ceremony on Friday, Leavitt said.
Trump’s push picks up a debate that began in 2022, when senators Pat Toomey and Kyrsten Sinema introduced the Virtual Currency Tax Fairness Act to exempt gains of up to $200 per transaction—far below the $600 ceiling now backed by the White House. Industry groups such as Coin Center and the Blockchain Association have long argued that parity with foreign‑currency rules is essential for retail crypto adoption.
Leavitt also reiterated that the president “opposes a central‑bank digital currency,” noting Trump’s January executive order barring the Federal Reserve from issuing one and endorsing congressional efforts to codify that ban. She portrayed the combined package—stablecoin oversight, securities‑clarity rules, an anti‑CBDC statute and the forthcoming de minimis fix—as “a regulatory foundation that will unleash American leadership in digital assets for decades.”
A $600 exclusion would dramatically reduce friction for low‑value crypto spending while leaving large transfers fully taxable, striking a balance between usability and revenue protection. Whether the final threshold lands at $200, $600 or is indexed for inflation will hinge on Senate negotiations later this summer, but the White House endorsement gives the measure its strongest tail‑wind yet. As Leavitt summed up: “The president looks forward to signing every piece of pro‑crypto legislation Congress can send him.”
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $120,576.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
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