A far-right lawmaker running for governor of Florida was lobbying the IRS to write more favorable rules for cryptocurrency, the same day his wife purchased at least $50,000 in Bitcoin, Notus reported on Friday.
According to the report, Rep. Byron Donalds joined 18 other lawmakers urging Scott Bessent, the Treasury secretary currently also serving as acting IRS commissioner, to eliminate a rule that treats “staking rewards,” or tokens earned by investors when they secure their cryptocurrency on the blockchain, as taxable income. The letter proclaimed that, “Like those who mine gold or anything else, cryptocurrency miners and stakers are the first owners of this new property. New property is never taxable income in the hands of its first owner, and instead gives rise to income upon its sale or disposition.”
However, “The same day, Donalds purchased between $50,001 and $100,000 in bitcoin, according to a new congressional financial document reviewed by NOTUS” — although officials in Donalds’ office said the purchase was made by his wife, and that “Importantly, the letter referenced had no bearing whatsoever on the spot price of Bitcoin.”
Nonetheless, other experts aren’t convinced. Former Rep. Reid Ribble (R-WI) told the outlet, “The timing of it really, really looks bad. Sometimes, you just have to say no. It degrades the trust that citizens have that a member is not trading with an advantage they don’t have.”
Nor is this the first such suspicious-looking trade, the report continued: “the Donalds bought or sold between $8,008 and $120,000 worth of stock — a week after Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariff declaration, as financial markets oscillated wildly. Their stock trades included shares of Visa Inc., Brazil-based digital banking group Nu Holdings Ltd., communication cable company Amphenol Corporation and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.”
All of this comes as the Republican primary for Florida governor heats up.
President Donald Trump has already endorsed Donalds for governor, but he’s getting a fierce challenge from James Fishback, a hedge fund manager who has drawn scrutiny for his repeated use of racially charged language to attack Donalds, who is Black. Fishback’s campaign has been shaken by an NBC News report that a school district cut ties with him after a 17-year-old girl alleged inappropriate sexual behavior, which the candidate has categorically denied.
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