The Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Riot Platforms, a Bitcoin mining firm, have emerged victorious in a legal battle against several U.S. energy officials. Here are the key developments:
The lawsuit, initially reported on February 22, alleged that the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) were seeking intrusive data collection from cryptocurrency miners.
In a recent filing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, TBC and Riot successfully argued for a temporary restraining order (TRO) against further data collection.
The court enforced the TRO, prohibiting the EIA from mandating crypto miners to respond to the survey and sharing any data already collected from it.
TBC and Riot asserted potential irreversible harm if the data collection continued, citing concerns such as non-recoverable compliance costs, the threat of prosecution for non-compliance, and the disclosure of proprietary information.
Discrepancies arose over the duration of the survey, with the court deeming the EIA’s estimated completion time of 30 minutes as “extremely inaccurate.”
The court found that TBC and Riot were likely to succeed in the lawsuit, alleging that the EIA misused its authority in approving the emergency survey.
The TRO will remain in effect until March 25, aiming to maintain the status quo during the legal proceedings.
This ruling marks a significant victory for TBC and Riot, safeguarding them against what they perceived as overreach by government agencies.
The lawsuit underscores the ongoing tension between crypto miners and regulatory authorities regarding data collection and compliance requirements.
Overall, the ruling provides temporary relief to TBC and Riot Platforms, affirming their stance against what they view as unjustified regulatory actions in the cryptocurrency mining sector.
Get $200 Free Bitcoins every hour! No Deposit No Credit Card required. Sign Up