Arizona Moves Closer to Protecting Crypto Miners and Blockchain Operators
Arizona is one step closer to providing legal protections for people who mine cryptocurrency or operate blockchain nodes of their homes. The state legislature has passed a bill, HB 2342, which shields these individuals from zoning and usage restrictions imposed by cities or counties.
What the Bill Entails
The bill, introduced by Rep. Teresa Martinez (R) in January, amends Arizona’s laws to make the usage of computational power in residences a matter of "statewide concern." This effectively strips local governments of regulatory authority on this area. The bill defines "computational power" broadly to incorporate blockchain operations like mining and running nodes, in addition to artificial intelligence workloads, cloud computing, and high-performance scientific research conducted from home setups.
Arizona’s Crypto-Friendly Stance
The advancement of HB 2342 is a component of Arizona’s broader crypto-forward stance, because the state is emerging as a national leader amongst U.S. states experimenting with sovereign-level crypto adoption. Last month, lawmakers pushed forward two complementary proposals: the Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Bill (SB 1373) and the Arizona Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Act (SB 1025). If signed into law, these bills would allow Arizona to construct state-managed reserves of digital assets, including using seized crypto and investing as much as 10% of the state treasury or retirement funds into Bitcoin.
A National Trend
Roughly 26 states have introduced similar Bitcoin reserve bills, but Arizona is the closest to getting one over the finish line. Neighboring states are racing to maintain up, with Texas passing its own Senate version of a Bitcoin reserve bill (SB-21) last month, and Oklahoma’s HB 1203 sailing through its House 77-15 and awaiting a Senate vote. Meanwhile, Kentucky recently took a special route, signing HB 701 into law to formally protect self-custodied crypto and make clear that mining and staking activities should not securities or money transmission.
Conclusion
The passage of HB 2342 and the introduction of other crypto-friendly bills in Arizona and neighboring states mark a big shift within the regulatory landscape for cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. As more states move to supply legal protections and support for these industries, it is probably going that we are going to see increased adoption and innovation within the crypto space. With Arizona on the forefront of this trend, it’ll be interesting to see how other states respond and the way the federal government ultimately chooses to control these emerging technologies.
