Every American who spends bitcoin is technically breaking the law. Today, that might start to change.

The Bitcoin Policy Institute is bringing Coinbase, River, and Block to Capitol Hill to push for a de minimis tax exemption on small bitcoin transactions.

Right now, buying a coffee with bitcoin is a taxable event. You have to calculate your cost basis, determine gain or loss, and report it to the IRS. Nobody does this. The same exemption already exists for foreign currency, it just doesn't apply to Bitcoin yet.

What matters is who's in the room. Coinbase, River, and Block sitting at the same table on the Hill is the kind of unified industry front this fight has needed. Credit to BPI for building a coalition that bridges Bitcoin-native companies and major exchanges.

If this gets done, it flips how the U.S. government classifies Bitcoin. It stops being treated purely as a speculative asset and starts being recognized as what it was designed to be: peer-to-peer electronic cash.

That's the foundation for a Bitcoin circular economy in the largest economy on Earth.