On Thursday, February 23, the Montana State Senate approved a bill protecting cryptocurrency miners against potential attacks on the sector.
The proposed regulation would establish the right to mine digital assets and eliminate the local government’s ability to enforce zoning regulations that could halt crypto-mining companies. It would protect home mining and ban discriminatory electricity pricing for crypto miners.
Additionally, the bill would categorize other financial assets, such as stocks and bonds, as personal property and digital assets, like cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens. Consequently, this would prevent additional taxes from being imposed on using cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
The bill aims to ensure Montana guarantees the right to mine cryptocurrencies and provide “legal certainty” for miners because it has good economic value, and the potential to stabilize the grid and generate income for infrastructure investments.
During the Senate proceedings, 37 people supported the bill, while 13 were against it. Now, the Montana House of Representatives will consider the bill, and if it passes both houses, Governor Greg Gianforte will sign it into law, although he also has the option to reject it.
The CEO and co-founder of Satoshi Action Fund, Dennis Porter, who assisted in drafting the bill, stated:
“There is still more work to be done in Montana, but as a new organization we feel confident about the progress we have made.”
This bill potentially impacts a law passed by Missoula County in Montana in April 2019 that restricts miners to working only in light and heavy industrial districts and only using renewable energy.
This news comes on the heels of recent waves of state regulations passed to influence the crypto sector in the United States. Halfway through 2022, New York passed a bill limiting cryptocurrency mining, while Mississippi enacted a bill earlier this year to stop discriminatory mining legislation in its counties. The Digital Asset Mining Protection Act of Missouri, which seeks to safeguard the rights of cryptocurrency miners, was introduced to the state legislature in the middle of January 2023.
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