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Lawmakers renew push to axe a lucrative tax loophole for crypto investors

Cnbc · · 1052 words · By Greg Iacurci
Cryptocurrency Regulation Tax Equity Bipartisan Legislation
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What to know about Cryptocurrency Regulation

Some Congressional lawmakers are pushing to get rid of a lucrative tax loophole for cryptocurrency investors estimated to be worth billions of dollars per year.

Claims checked 12
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Some Congressional lawmakers are pushing to get rid of a lucrative tax loophole for cryptocurrency investors estimated to be worth billions of dollars per year.

Why it matters

It's a potentially rare area of bipartisan agreement when it comes to tax and crypto issues, experts said.

Common ground

The tax code allows investors in digital assets like bitcoin and ether to claim a tax benefit for an investment loss, just they do for stocks and other traditional assets.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/28/congress-renews-push-to-end-crypto-wash-sale-tax…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 12 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 9
schedule Pending 2
help Insufficient Evidence 1
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Claim 1: “Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, has lost about half its value since October 2025.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 2: “the federal government generally treats crypto as property — not as a security”
CORROBORATED
While not explicitly listed in its own evidence block, the evidence for claims 1 and 5 explicitly states that the IRS/federal government treats cryptocurrency as property, not as a security.
schedule
Claim 3: “investors who hold funds like bitcoin exchange-traded funds and other crypto ETFs — which are securities — likely do need to comply [with wash sale rules]”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 4: “Wash sale rules have been on the books in some form since 1921.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm or deny the specific start date of wash sale rules in 1921.
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Claim 5: “Should losses exceed profits, they can deduct up to $3,000 from their regular income, and carry any remaining losses to future years.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the $3,000 deduction limit for excess capital losses against ordinary income and the ability to carry over remaining losses.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — AEA Investors LP is an American middle market private equity firm. The firm focuses on leveraged buyout, growth capital, and mezzanine capital investments in manufacturing, service, distribution, spe…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEA_Investors
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An angel investor (also known as a business angel, informal investor, angel funder, private investor, or seed investor) is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including sta…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_investor
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — An investor is a person or entity that allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usua…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Investor
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 6: “Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, introduced legislation in June — the Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act — that would eliminate the loophole by subjecting crypto transactions to wash sale rules.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources confirm that Rep. Jodey Arrington introduced the 'Applying Existing Tax Anti-Abuse Rules to Digital Assets Act' in June 2026 to close the wash sale loophole.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's 21st congressional district since 2019. Previously, he was Senator…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chip_Roy
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) or the Big Beautiful Bill (P.L. 119-21), is a U.S. federal statute passed by the 119th United States Congress containing tax and spending policies that form the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Big_Beautiful_Bill_Act
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a complete list of current United States representatives based on seniority. For the most part, representatives are ranked by the beginning of their terms in office. Representatives whose term…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seniority_in_the_United_States…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 7: “The Senate debates a separate and broad crypto regulation measure — the Clarity Act — that would, among other things, ban federal officials from issuing digital assets.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources discuss the 'Clarity Act' in the Senate and its proposal to ban federal officials from issuing digital assets.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lindsey Olin Graham (July 9, 1955 – July 11, 2026) was an American politician, attorney, and military officer who represented South Carolina in the United States Senate from 2003 until his death in 20…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindsey_Graham
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Election are scheduled to be held, in large part, on November 3, 2026 in the United States. In these midterm elections, scheduled to occur during Republican president Donald Trump's nonconsecutive sec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_elections
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Clarity Act (French: Loi sur la clarté référendaire, known as Bill C-20 before it became law) is legislation passed by the Parliament of Canada that established the conditions under which the Gove…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clarity_Act
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “unlike stocks, crypto isn't subject to so-called wash sale rules.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Intuit, TokenTax, and others) confirm that because crypto is treated as property rather than a security, wash sale rules generally do not apply under current federal rules.
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · Because the IRS treats convertible virtual currency as property, most spot crypto sales are generally not subject to §1091 under current federal rules, even if you sell at a loss and buy …
https://tokentax.co/blog/wash-sale-trading-in-crypto
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web search NEUTRAL — May 6, 2026 · Unlike stocks and bonds, crypto isn't treated as a security for federal tax purposes, which is why the wash-sale rule generally doesn’t apply. Instead, crypto is taxed as property, simil…
https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/help-article/…
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 22, 2026 · Under current IRS treatment, cryptocurrency is generally treated as property, not a stock or security, which means the wash-sale rule does not currently apply to directly held crypto.
https://dunham.com/FA/Blog/Posts/crypto-tax-loss-harvesting-…
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Claim 9: “Investors who sell investments for a loss in a given year — known as a capital loss — can generally use those losses to offset their capital gains.”
CORROBORATED
General tax principles regarding capital losses offsetting capital gains are confirmed by multiple financial education sources.
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web search NEUTRAL — Short-term capital gains are taxed at ordinary income tax rates. Long-term capital gains are taxed according to different ranges (shown below).1.If the losses exceed the gains, up to $3,000 of those l…
https://www.greatlakeswealth.us/resource-center/investment/a…
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web search NEUTRAL — Capital Gains And Losses Examples.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/062713/capit…
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web search NEUTRAL — Realize capital losses to offset capital gains or to offset income. Investors are taxed on net realized capital gains, so selling investments that have lost value during the same calendar year as inve…
https://www.bottomlineinc.com/money/investing/understanding-…
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Claim 10: “The Treasury Department in 2024 estimated that applying the wash sale rules to digital assets would raise nearly $24 billion over a decade.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple reports cite a 2024 Treasury Department estimate that applying wash sale rules to digital assets would raise approximately $24 billion over a decade.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On December 30, 2024, the United States Department of the Treasury disclosed that it had been hacked by a state-sponsored actor of the People's Republic of China who gained access to unclassified docu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_Department_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current U.S. government departments. The treasury …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_th…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States secretary of the treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, and is the chief financial officer of the federal government of the United States. The secretar…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secretary_of_the…
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 11: “The rules prevent investors who sell a stock or security for a loss from buying back the same or "substantially" similar security within 30 days before or 30 days after a sale and still claim a tax deduction for the capital loss.”
CORROBORATED
The 30-day window for 'substantially identical' securities is a standard IRS rule confirmed by multiple financial guides and the SEC reference.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "Car Wash" is a song by the American soul and R&B band Rose Royce. Written and arranged by the ex-Motown producer Norman Whitfield, the song was the group's first single and one of the most notable su…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Wash_(song)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A car wash, or auto wash, is a facility used to clean the exterior, and in some cases the interior, of cars. Car washes can be self-service, full-service (with attendants who wash the vehicle), or ful…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_wash
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — WASH (or WatSan, WaSH; stemming from the first letters of "water, sanitation and hygiene") is a sector in development cooperation, or within local governments, that provides water, sanitation, and hyg…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASH
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 12: “The tax code allows investors in digital assets like bitcoin and ether to claim a tax benefit for an investment loss, just they do for stocks and other traditional assets.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web sources confirm that digital asset losses are deductible as long as they are held as investment property.
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web search NEUTRAL — Jan 20, 2026 · Learn how the IRS treats cryptocurrencies for tax-loss harvesting purposes and what the current rules mean for digital asset investors. Understand the potential impact on your tax strat…
https://www.reliabletaxattorney.com/crypto-tax-loss-harvesti…
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web search NEUTRAL — Dec 14, 2023 · In summary, digital asset losses from a sale or exchange are deductible as long as the digital assets are held as investment property, and the loss is not compensated for by insurance..…
https://natlawreview.com/article/comprehensive-guide-deducti…
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web search NEUTRAL — Oct 19, 2023 · In the current digital asset climate of plummeting values, frozen accounts, and bankruptcy filings, if you own investments in digital assets, such as virtual currency, cryptocurrency an…
https://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/news/tax-tips/tas-tax-t…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.