The U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have agreed to cease the proposed emergency survey targeting crypto miners across the country. The settlement with the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms follows concerns about the survey's intrusiveness and potential harm to innovation and economic growth in the United States. The agreement includes the deletion of previously collected information and the cancellation of the temporary restraining order that was in place until March 8.
U.S. energy officials have reached an agreement with the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Bitcoin mining firm Riot Platforms to halt the proposed emergency survey targeting crypto miners across the country. The settlement, involving the U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), comes amid concerns raised by the TBC and Riot about the intrusiveness of the survey and its potential threat to innovation and economic growth in the United States.
According to a filing on March 2, the agreement includes the cessation of information gathering from crypto miners for the proposed three-year emergency survey filed under the “EIA-862 Emergency Collection Request.” The U.S. Department of Energy and related agencies have committed to deleting all previously collected information from crypto miners, and any forthcoming data obtained from the survey will also be discarded.
The settlement effectively cancels the temporary restraining order that was set to remain in place until March 8. As reported on February 23, the court had temporarily suspended the U.S. energy regulators from collecting data while the lawsuit was ongoing. The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms convinced the judge that irreparable harm could occur without prohibiting further data collection.
Plaintiffs argued that the survey posed potential damages, including non-recoverable costs of compliance, a credible threat of prosecution for non-compliance, and the disclosure of proprietary information requested. While the Energy Information Administration estimated that the survey would take approximately 30 minutes to complete, the court deemed this estimation "extremely inaccurate."
The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms contested the estimate, stating that the cost of compliance had already exceeded 40 hours. Despite the settlement, both parties agreed that the Energy Information Administration could submit a new notice seeking public feedback for two months on the information it is allowed to collect.
The resolution marks a significant development in the ongoing debate surrounding the regulation and monitoring of crypto mining activities in the United States, reflecting a balance between regulatory concerns and the interests of the crypto industry stakeholders.
(CIARAN LYONS, COINTELEGRAPH, 2024)