Lawsuit Ends with Possible Win for Riot and Texas Blockchain Council

The Texas Blockchain Council and Riot have secured a legal victory against several U.S. energy officials, as confirmed by a court filing. The granted temporary restraining order aims to maintain the current situation and will remain in effect until before March 25.

Lawsuit Ends With Riot and Texas Blockchain Council’s Possible Win

In a lawsuit against entities including the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Riot Platforms alleged invasive data collection practices targeting cryptocurrency miners, as reported on Feb. 22.

In a filing dated Feb. 23 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, the judge was convinced by the arguments presented by TBC and Riot, highlighting the potential irreparable harm without a temporary restraining order (TRO) against further data collection.

The court has consequently enforced a TRO, preventing the EIA from mandating crypto miners to respond to the survey and from sharing any data already collected. The court justified its decision, stating, “Plaintiffs have shown through a verified complaint and supporting evidence that immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result if a TRO is not issued.”

TBC and Riot raised concerns about the significant costs of compliance, the threat of prosecution for non-compliance, and the disclosure of proprietary information requested. Disagreement also arose over the duration of the survey, with the court deeming the EIA’s estimation of 30 minutes as “extremely inaccurate” and acknowledging TBC and Riot’s claim of over 40 hours for compliance.

The court deemed TBC and Riot likely to succeed in the lawsuit, noting the misuse of authority by the EIA in approving the emergency survey. It concluded that the emergency provision of the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) fell short of justifying such action.

The TRO is set to expire before March 25, with its purpose over the four weeks being to “preserve the status quo.”

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