Montana Lawmakers Pass Pro-Cryptocurrency Mining Bill

Montana Governor Greg Gianforte has signed a bill that prohibits local governments from passing laws that ban cryptocurrency mining. The bill, known as S.B. 178, passed both the state House and Senate before being signed into law on May 2.

The legislation aims to protect crypto miners' rights in the state by revising existing laws and prohibiting discriminatory electrical rates for mining companies. Furthermore, the bill does not allow taxation for crypto used as a method of payment.

The latest version of the bill suggests that the legislation was introduced partly as a preventive measure in response to proposals in other states.

Digital asset mining has often faced difficulty with regulations at the state and local level. In Arkansas, lawmakers passed a bill similar to Montana's S.B. 178, which the Satoshi Action Fund supported. The Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders had already signed the bill into law.

Similar pro-mining legislation had been moving forward in the Mississippi state legislature, but the bill died in March. In contrast, a Missouri bill is still progressing in the legislature. At the federal level, the Biden administration recently renewed a push for a 30% tax on cryptocurrency miners as part of an FY2024 budget proposal. The tax would potentially target miners' electricity usage.

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