WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th April, 2023) The legislature of the US state of Montana passed a measure to protect the right to mine cryptocurrencies and other digital assets, as well as define them as personal property under state law.
The Montana House of Representatives passed the bill on Wednesday after the state Senate passed the measure in February.
The bill prevents local governments from imposing requirements on a digital assets mining business that are not also in place for data centers, blocking a digital assets mining business from operating in an industrial area or stopping home digital asset mining.
The legislation also prevents payments made with digital assets from being subject to additional taxes based solely on the use of digital assets.
Additionally, the bill classifies digital assets as personal property under Montana law, defining them as any cryptocurrency, natively electronic asset or other digital-only asset that confers economic, proprietary, or access rights or powers.
The bill was introduced by Montana State Senator Daniel Zolnikov, whom Forbes featured in their "30 Under 30" list for law and policy in 2014. As a legislator, Zolnikov has focused on energy, technology and civil liberties policies.
Digital asset mining provides positive economic value for individuals and companies throughout the United States, but often faces difficulty with regulations at the state and local level, the bill text said.
Montana wants to protect the right to mine digital assets and create legal certainty for the industry, the bill said.
