Montana Senate Approves Bill To Protect Crypto Miners

Key Points:

• Montana State Senate passed a bill aimed at safeguarding the crypto mining industry from a range of actions that could harm it.
• The law takes power from local governments, preventing them from moving against at-home mining or retroactively using zoning laws to shut down active operations.
• Bitcoin miners have faced criticism from environmentalists and lawmakers concerned about the impact of their activities on carbon neutrality goals and electrical grids.

On Thursday, the Montana State Senate passed a bill aimed at safeguarding the crypto-mining industry from a range of actions that could harm it.

The proposed legislation passed with a vote of 37-13 in the Senate and is now headed to the state’s House for approval.

The bill has several provisions that aim to protect crypto miners, including protections for at-home mining, prevention of discriminatory utility rates, and stipulations that cryptocurrency used as payment will not be subject to additional taxes. Additionally, the law takes power from local governments, preventing them from moving against at-home mining or retroactively using zoning laws to shut down active operations.

This law could potentially significantly impact Missoula County, which instituted a zoning ordinance in 2020 requiring bitcoin miners to buy or build renewable energy assets equivalent to their energy consumption. The new law would prevent such ordinances from being enacted.

Bitcoin miners have faced criticism from environmentalists and lawmakers concerned about the impact of their activities on carbon neutrality goals and electrical grids. In response, miners have been fighting back, with as many as five bills going through state legislatures to protect the industry.

One advocacy group, Satoshi Action Fund, helped draft the language in the Montana bill. It remains to be seen whether the legislation will pass in the House and be signed into law, but it is clear that crypto miners are mobilizing to protect their interests in the face of increasing scrutiny and potential regulation.

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