- The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms won a case against the U.S. Department of Energy and other government organizations.
- They sought a temporary ban on collecting information on bitcoin miners.
- The court ruled that the agencies’ actions were illegal.
The Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and the cryptocurrency mining company Riot Platforms were able to convince the judge to ban the “emergency” collection of data on bitcoin miners. Earlier this procedure was initiated by the US Department of Energy (DoE) and some government organizations.
Temporary restraining order granted pic.twitter.com/LzYVycdEWK
- Pierre Rochard (@BitcoinPierre) February 24, 2024
According to the document, the court prohibited the agencies from collecting proprietary information on bitcoin miners. It recognized their actions as illegal and demanded that they stop not only collecting but also disseminating any data from the survey.
TBC and Riot Platforms had previously argued that potential damages from the data collection included “unrecoverable costs, the real threat of legal action in the event of non-compliance, and disclosure of requested confidential information.”
The plaintiffs pointed out that the government acted to circumvent existing regulations on the activities of mining companies. US authorities are required by law to notify firms of data collection activities 60 days in advance.
In addition, there was disagreement over the length of the procedure. The EIA estimated the process at about 30 minutes, while the TBC and Riot document spoke about 40 hours.
Based on the information provided, the court decided to approve a temporary ban on information gathering and “maintain the status quo” until March 25.
Recall, in January 2024, the mining company Hut 8 was accused of market manipulation and creating risks for shareholders. We also wrote that the miners in 2023 equaled Australia in the amount of electricity consumed.
