GOOD: NCLA Wins Order Blocking Dep’t of Energy’s Unlawful Demand for Cryptocurrency Mining Data. “Today, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the New Civil Liberties Alliance’s new Texas Blockchain Council v. Dept. of Energy lawsuit. The 14-day TRO blocks DOE and the Energy Information Administration (EIA) from forcing cryptocurrency mining companies to hand over sensitive information about their electricity consumption through a mandatory Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities Survey. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) had given EIA emergency permission to collect this data, despite EIA’s failure to demonstrate that short-cutting the statutory process would prevent public harm, as federal law requires. On behalf of its clients, the Texas Blockchain Council and Riot Platforms, Inc., NCLA celebrates the Court’s Order and looks forward to derailing DOE’s unlawful data collection effort once and for all.”

Reminder/Disclosure, I’m on the NCLA’s Advisory Board.