DeFi Broker Rule Repealed: Trump Becomes First US President To Sign Crypto Bill Into Law

U.S. President Donald Trump has become the first president in the country’s history to sign a cryptocurrency-centric bill into law after he signed a House and Senate-passed bill that will repeal the Biden-era “DeFi broker rule” under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Republican House Rep. Mike Carey of Ohio announced the news Thursday, saying Trump signed the bill that repealed the IRS rule that would have required decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms to report the same taxpayer information that traditional brokers collected and reported.

The Impact of the DeFi Broker Rule on Crypto

While the IRS rule’s reversal is a huge win for the emerging DeFi space, it is also a win for the broader crypto space.

Carey noted that the DeFi Broker Rule “required self-custodial digital asset wallet providers and other developers of noncustodial software to submit information reports to the IRS,” which meant that self-custody crypto wallet providers would have had issues as well if the rule wasn’t repealed.

The GOP House member, who is also a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, also blasted the rule as one that “needlessly hindered American innovation” and was due to “overwhelm the IRS with an overflow of new filings that it doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle during tax season.”

Carey thanked Trump for signing the bill into law, and also thanked White House crypto and AI czar David Sacks for his “leadership in supporting America’s continued place as the global leader in the emerging crypto industry.”

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith said the IRS rule shouldn’t have been issued in the first place, as it “went beyond the scope of the law” and would have made it impossible for taxpayers and small businesses to accomplish the reporting requirements.

The bill, which was introduced by Carey in the House and driven forward by Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, in the Senate, received bipartisan support in both chambers last month, paving the way for its arrival on the president’s table.

Carey’s office noted that the bill is “is the first cryptocurrency bill ever signed into law and the first tax-related Congressional Review Act of Disapproval (CRA) signed into law.”

Trump Embraces on Crypto

Trump’s signing of the bill is the latest in a series of pro-crypto moves by his administration, signaling a major shift in the U.S. government’s approach to the digital asset space.

Aside from signing an executive order to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve and a digital asset stockpile, most recently, the U.S. Justice Department also disbanded the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team (NCET), which focused on prosecuting crypto scams.

Trump has had several firsts in terms of the broader blockchain industry. Aside from being the first U.S. president to sign a crypto bill into law, he also became the first U.S. president to launch his own meme coin.

His media company also recently partnered with Crypto.com to launch exchange-traded funds (ETFs).