Arizona’s Bitcoin Mining Bill Advances to Governor’s Desk

Arizona is one step nearer to locking in authorized protections for crypto miners and blockchain node operators.

On Thursday, the state legislature handed HB 2342, a invoice that protects people who mine Bitcoin or function blockchain nodes at dwelling from zoning and utilization restrictions imposed by cities or counties. 

The invoice cleared the Arizona Senate in a slim 17–12 vote and now heads to Governor Katie Hobbs for closing approval.

Launched in January by Rep. Teresa Martinez (R), HB 2342 amends Arizona’s legal guidelines to make using computational energy in residences a matter of “statewide concern,” successfully stripping native governments of regulatory authority on this space.

Defining “computational energy” broadly to incorporate blockchain operations like mining and operating nodes, the invoice additionally targets synthetic intelligence workloads, cloud computing, and high-performance scientific analysis carried out from dwelling setups.

The invoice’s development is a part of Arizona’s broader crypto-forward stance, as it’s rising as a nationwide chief amongst U.S. states experimenting with sovereign-level crypto adoption.

Final 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 legislation, these payments would permit Arizona to construct state-managed reserves of digital belongings, together with utilizing seized crypto and investing as much as 10% of the state treasury or retirement funds into Bitcoin.

Roughly 26 states have launched comparable Bitcoin reserve payments, however Arizona is the closest to getting one over the end line, in keeping with data from Bitcoin Legal guidelines’ reserve invoice tracker.

Neighboring states are racing to maintain up. Texas passed its personal Senate model of a Bitcoin reserve invoice (SB-21) final month, whereas Oklahoma’s HB 1203 sailed through its Home 77–15 and awaits a Senate vote. 

In the meantime, Kentucky just lately took a distinct route, signing HB 701 into law to formally defend self-custodied crypto and make clear that mining and staking actions will not be securities or cash transmission.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair