Congress quietly expands tax breaks for crypto millionaires through charity loophole
H.R. 9173 — Charitable Deductions for Digital Asset Donations Act · Filed by Mike Kelly (R-PA) · Introduced Jun 8, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill allows taxpayers to claim charitable tax deductions when they donate digital assets (cryptocurrencies and tokens) to qualified charities, similar to existing deductions for donating stocks or real estate. It establishes definitions for different types of digital assets (tokenized, wrapped, and stablecoins) and gives the Treasury Secretary authority to set valuation and eligibility rules, with an inflation-adjusted $500 million annual threshold starting in 2027.
Why we flagged it
The bill's core function is to extend charitable tax deductions to digital asset donations, creating a tax benefit for crypto holders. While framed as encouraging charitable giving, the mechanism is heavily weighted toward large digital asset holders and relies on Treasury discretion to define terms and prevent abuse.
What the text implies
- The $500 million annual threshold and inflation adjustment suggest this deduction is designed for institutional or ultra-high-net-worth crypto holders, not ordinary donors, potentially creating a tax shelter mechanism for concentrated wealth.
- Treasury Secretary gains broad discretionary authority to define 'tokenized digital assets,' 'wrapped digital assets,' and valuation rules, with minimal legislative guardrails—creating regulatory uncertainty and potential for favorable interpretations favoring the crypto industry.
- The bill cross-references the GENIUS Act (stablecoin legislation) without including its text, making it impossible to fully understand the scope of eligible assets or issuer requirements without external research.
- Valuation of volatile digital assets for charitable deduction purposes is not addressed, creating potential for inflated valuations and tax abuse (donors claiming high valuations at donation time, then selling at lower prices).
- The 'no inference' language in Section 4 appears designed to prevent this bill from settling regulatory questions about whether crypto is a security, commodity, or other asset class—leaving the crypto industry's regulatory status deliberately ambiguous.
Who it affects
The bill creates a tax incentive that may encourage charitable giving (a public benefit), but it primarily benefits high-net-worth individuals holding digital assets and the charities that receive them. The mechanism is opaque regarding valuation and abuse prevention, and the $500 million threshold suggests this is designed for large-scale crypto holders rather than ordinary taxpayers.
Who stands to gain
- cryptocurrency holders and investors
- digital asset exchanges and platforms
- stablecoin issuers
- charitable organizations receiving crypto donations
- wealth management firms serving high-net-worth crypto clients
Named in the bill
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Treasury Secretary, GENIUS Act, qualified U.S. dollar stablecoin, permitted payment stablecoin issuer, foreign payment stablecoin issuer, cryptographically secured distributed ledger
Where it stands
- Jun 8, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jun 8, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Ways and Means · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
7 lobbying clients named this bill on 7 disclosure filings across 1 quarter, Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $6,275,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 13 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 86% of bills with at least one filing.
Mike Kelly, the sponsor, reported $955,974 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- American Bankers Association — $3,510,000 on 1 filing
- Coinbase, Inc. — $1,160,000 on 1 filing
- Solana Policy Institute — $610,000 on 1 filing
- Blockchain Association — $320,000 on 1 filing
- Crypto Council for Innovation — $310,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 20, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the full bill text on Jun 10, 2026; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Jun 2026 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 20, 2026 · page rendered 2026-10-20.
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