Over the last week and a half, a battle raged in the Senate over whether cryptocurrencies will be regulated out of existence, or if they will mature into a foundational investment in human rights online.

The #DontKillCrypto campaign formed in opposition to a cryptocurrency provision in the must-pass infrastructure package that mandates mass surveillance of the crypto-economy in the name of reducing tax avoidance. This puts many fundamental cryptocurrency participants in an impossible position: to either collect information that they structurally cannot get access to, or to operate outside the US. Either way, mass surveillance of everyone in the cryptocurrency ecosystem is a massive blow to human rights.

Cryptocurrencies are both a testing ground and a foundational investment in the move to decentralization. The issues at hand aren’t simply about taxes—they’re about the United States’ ability to participate in cryptocurrencies and a decentralized future that puts the rights of people above the exploitative and manipulative business models of Big Tech.

After days of debate, 40,000+ calls to Senators, and two competing amendments, the Senate failed to amend their original, harmful language at all. Now that the infrastructure package is headed to the House, we must demand that they act where the Senate has failed.

PETITION TEXT

Dear Representative,

Cryptocurrencies and decentralized technology are the best alternative to Big Tech. I’m calling on you to support amendments that will protect human rights, and remove surveillance measures from the cryptocurrency provision of the infrastructure package. Policies that impact basic freedom and the future of the Internet should be debated carefully and should never be attached to must-pass bills.

Thank you.