Lawmakers in the Texas state Senate have approved a bill aimed at largely removing incentives for crypto miners operating in what appears to be a friendly regulatory environment.
In a 30-1 vote in the Texas Senate on April 12, lawmakers in the 88th Legislative Session passed Senate Bill 1751, which would amend parts of the state’s utility and tax laws to increase support for encryption. Mining company restrictions. The Senate meeting marked the first time the bill has moved forward in the state in more than a week, with the Texas Senate Commerce Committee passing it on April 4.
The bill will next go to the Texas House of Representatives, which is scheduled to meet on April 13 to discuss the legislation -- though it's unclear whether lawmakers intend to discuss SB 1751 at that time. If passed by the House, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott a self-proclaimed “crypto bill proponent” would be able to sign the bill into law. SB 1751 has already drawn national attention from crypto advocacy groups including the Chamber of Digital Commerce and the Satoshi Action Fund. The groups have called on Texas residents to voice their opposition to the bill through local representatives, but also plan to bring together cryptocurrency mining supporters at a rally at the Texas State Capitol on April 25.
Under the proposed legislation, incentives for crypto mining firms participating in a program designed to compensate for load reductions on the Texas grid would be capped at 10%. Certain companies that operate data centers will also not receive state tax breaks starting in September 2023. “Elected officials only know how to use a hammer they don’t know how to be a surgeon,” Fred Thiel, CEO of mining firm Marathon Digital Holdings, told Cointelegraph ahead of the Senate vote. "They started attacking cryptocurrencies, and bitcoin mining got caught up in the attack."
Thiel added that if the bill passes in Texas, some mining companies, including Riot Platforms, that participate in grid load-shedding programs could experience reduced revenue. According to the CEO of Marathon Digital, all miners operating in the state will be affected by the tax break, which may cause the company to reconsider calling Texas home - a move that may be interpreted as a federal level. Part of anti-cryptocurrency sentiment. “What the politicians are trying to do now is push cryptocurrencies and bitcoin overseas and that will just mean that countries where the U.S. doesn’t want to control the technology will gain control over it.”
Marathon Digital gets Bitcoin backing in a big way, Mining operations in Texas through wind farms, and other companies operating in the state include Core Scientific, Riot Platforms, White Rock Management and Argo Blockchain. Core Scientific filed for bankruptcy in December 2022 but continued to mine in Texas, while Argo announced plans to sell its Texas facility to Galaxy Digital around the same time.
