Key Takeaways
- • The DeFi Education Fund, Paradigm, Uniswap and Andreessen Horowitz led a group of crypto entities that filed an amicus brief backing the industry's legal challenge to Illinois' Digital Asset Tax Act.
- • The law imposes a 0.2% tax on digital asset transactions and was originally set to take effect in January 2027, but has been postponed to July 2027.
- • The Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation and The Digital Chamber have already sued Illinois over the law, which was signed by Governor JB Pritzker as part of the state's fiscal year 2027 budget.
- • The brief argues the Act singles out blockchain transactions for unfavorable tax treatment and fails to draw clear boundaries between taxable business activity and software and network infrastructure.
- • An estimated 2.64 million Illinoisans hold digital assets, the fifth-highest total of any state, according to the brief.
Summary
Crypto industry heavyweights are coordinating opposition to Illinois' Digital Asset Tax Act, with The Block reporting that the DeFi Education Fund, Paradigm, Uniswap and Andreessen Horowitz led a group of entities that filed an amicus brief in support of the existing legal challenge to the law. The signatories also include Aave Labs, Aptos Labs, Aztec Labs, Chainlink Labs, the Decentralization Research Center, Dromos Labs, Figment Inc., Hyperliquid Policy Center, Jito Labs, Multicoin Capital Management LLC, Orca Creative, Phantom Technologies, Solana Policy Institute and Stand With Crypto.
The brief argues that the law is overly broad and unfairly targets the digital asset industry. According to the filing, the Act "singles out transactions involving blockchain technology for unfavorable tax treatment" and affects a substantial number of residents, citing an estimated 2.64 million Illinoisans who hold digital assets, the fifth-highest total of any state. The group also contends the legislation does not account for the "technological complexities" of digital assets and fails to establish sufficiently clear boundaries between taxable digital asset business activity and the provision of software and network infrastructure that enables users to transact independently.
The amicus filing supplements a lawsuit already brought by the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation and The Digital Chamber following Governor JB Pritzker's signature of the Digital Asset Tax Act as part of the state's fiscal year 2027 budget. The law imposes a 0.2% tax on digital asset transactions. It was initially scheduled to take effect in January 2027 but has since been postponed to July 2027.
The legislation has drawn swift criticism from crypto industry advocates, who have described it as unprecedented and have sought to block its implementation.
The brief argues that the law is overly broad and unfairly targets the digital asset industry. According to the filing, the Act "singles out transactions involving blockchain technology for unfavorable tax treatment" and affects a substantial number of residents, citing an estimated 2.64 million Illinoisans who hold digital assets, the fifth-highest total of any state. The group also contends the legislation does not account for the "technological complexities" of digital assets and fails to establish sufficiently clear boundaries between taxable digital asset business activity and the provision of software and network infrastructure that enables users to transact independently.
The amicus filing supplements a lawsuit already brought by the Blockchain Association, the Crypto Council for Innovation and The Digital Chamber following Governor JB Pritzker's signature of the Digital Asset Tax Act as part of the state's fiscal year 2027 budget. The law imposes a 0.2% tax on digital asset transactions. It was initially scheduled to take effect in January 2027 but has since been postponed to July 2027.
The legislation has drawn swift criticism from crypto industry advocates, who have described it as unprecedented and have sought to block its implementation.
Go deeper than the headline
Research every firm in this story, track the ones that matter and get the daily briefing — free for 7 days.