Montana Legalizes Cryptomining
2023.02.24 02:29
Montana Legalizes Cryptomining
By Tiffany Smith
Budrigannews.com – The Montana Senate’s approval brings a cryptocurrency mining rights bill that would outlaw discrimination against crypto miners one step closer to becoming law.
A “right to mine digital assets” would be enshrined in the proposed laws, as would the protection of “at home” mining and the prohibition of “discriminatory” electricity rates for crypto miners. Local governments would also lose their authority to use zoning laws to stop crypto mining.
Additionally, it would consider “digital assets,” such as cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens, as “personal property” alongside other financial products like stocks and bonds. Additionally, it would prohibit additional taxes on the use of cryptocurrency as a payment method.
On February 23, the bill was approved by 37 votes in favor and 13 against in the state Senate. It now goes to the House for approval. The final step would be for it to be signed into law by Governor Greg Gianforte, who could also choose to veto the bill if it is passed there as well.
As mining “provides positive economic value” and may potentially “stabilize the grid and provide revenue for infrastructure upgrades,” the bill stated that Montana wants to “protect the right to mine” crypto and “create legal certainty” for miners.
The Satoshi Action Fund, a lobbying organization in favor of Bitcoin (BTC), assisted in the writing of the bill.
In a January interview, Dennis Porter, CEO of the advocacy group, told Cointelegraph that leaders in Montana have considered raising electricity rates for miner operations and used zoning laws to try to drive out miners.
In Montana’s Missoula County, rules were enacted in April 2019 requiring miners to use only renewable energy and operate only in light and heavy industrial districts. The county’s zoning law would be overturned if the law were to become law.
A similar bill to protect crypto miners from discrimination was passed by the Mississippi state Senate at the beginning of February and is currently advancing to the state House.
In the meantime, the Digital Asset Mining Protection Act of Missouri was introduced to the state legislature in the middle of January with the intention of safeguarding the rights of crypto miners.
