Arkansas has become the latest U.S. state to propose legislation to regulate Bitcoin mining and provide legal protections to companies operating such businesses.
The state’s bitcoin bill, named the Data Centers Act of 2023, has passed in both the Arkansas House of Representatives and Senate and now awaits the governor’s approval.
The bill seeks to protect miners from discriminatory regulations and taxes by providing clearer guidelines. Under the legislation, crypto miners will be required to pay applicable taxes and government fees in acceptable forms of currency and operate in a manner that causes no stress on an electric public utility’s generation capabilities or transmission network.
The move in Arkansas reflects a similar action in Montana in February and in Texas in March, where a bill in support of Bitcoin mining is still pending.
However, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have fined and filed lawsuits against crypto trading platforms, claiming they lack legal approvals to sell some of their services.
The administration of President Joe Biden has also proposed an excise tax on crypto miners that equals 30 percent of the cost of electricity they use.
