Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms Win Temporary Restraining Order Against DoE Cryptocurrency Mining Data Collection

On Friday, February 23, 2024, the US District Court for the Western District of Texas granted a temporary restraining order to the Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms Inc. in their lawsuit against the Department of Energy (DOE), Energy Information Administration (EIA), and Office of Management and Budget.

The plaintiffs, which include a cryptocurrency trade association and bitcoin mining company, had filed suit to stop enforcement of an emergency survey on cryptocurrency mining issued by the DOE and EIA. Dubbed the “EIA-862 Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities Report,” the survey aimed to collect operational data and information from digital currency mining operations across the US.

However, the Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms claimed the survey violated the Administrative Procedure Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, and sought declaratory relief. They argued the DOE and EIA failed to follow proper administrative procedures and that the estimated 30 minutes to complete the extensive survey was inaccurate. Completing it so far has taken them over 40 hours.

In their motion for a temporary restraining order, the plaintiffs claimed they would suffer irreparable harm through the non-recoverable costs of compliance, the potential for prosecution if they failed to provide the data and the disclosure of proprietary business information. The judge agreed, finding the costs alone usually constitute irreparable injury and the balance of harms favored granting relief.

While the EIA administrator had filed a declaration agreeing not to enforce the survey until March 25th and sequester any submitted data, the judge was not satisfied. The declaration did not bind all the defendants and failed to remove the credible threat of future enforcement. Furthermore, it lacked any mechanism to ensure the terms would be followed.

After arguments from both sides, the court issued a temporary restraining order, prohibiting the defendants from requiring the survey’s response, collecting any data, and ordering submitted data to be sequestered. The order will expire in 14 days or be extended, with a preliminary injunction hearing set for February 27th to further consider the issues.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.