On Dec. 18, Rep. Byron Donalds, a Republican from Florida, sent a letter to the Internal Revenue Service’s acting commissioner, Scott Bessent, asking him to axe a rule that declares “cryptocurrency staking rewards” — extra tokens investors earn by locking up their cryptocurrency on a blockchain network — as taxable income upon their receipt.

“Like those who mine gold or anything else, cryptocurrency miners and stakers are the first owners of this new property,” Donalds argued along with 18 other members of Congress. “New property is never taxable income in the hands of its first owner, and instead gives rise to income upon its sale or disposition.”

The same day,…