The study, according to the Texas Blockchain Council and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms, was politically motivated and a threat to American innovation and economic expansion.
The Texas Blockchain Council (TBC) and Bitcoin mining company Riot Platforms have reached a deal with US energy officials to cancel the proposed emergency survey that was aimed at cryptocurrency miners nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Energy, the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have reached an agreement with TBC and Riot to cease collecting data from cryptocurrency miners for their proposed three-year emergency survey, which was filed under the “EIA-862 Emergency Collection Request.” This information was disclosed in a filing dated March 2.
It also said that all future data would be thrown away, along with all previously gathered data from cryptocurrency miners for the survey—which Riot and TBC deemed intrusive.
Defendants consent to the EIA destroying any data it has previously obtained in response to the EIA-862 Emergency Survey. EIA will discard any additional data it receives in response to the EIA-862 Emergency Survey.
The deal essentially nullifies the interim restraining order, which was scheduled to last until March 8. According to reports on February 23, the court had temporarily barred the US energy authorities from gathering the data while the complaint was pending.
This occurred after Riot and the TBC persuaded the judge that irrevocable harm would occur if additional data collecting was not banned.
According to the plaintiffs, the survey could result in non-recoverable costs associated with complying with it, a real fear of prosecution if they don’t cooperate, and the revelation of required proprietary information.
The court found that the EIA’s estimate of how long the survey would take to complete was “extremely inaccurate.” The estimate was also contested by Riot and the TBC, who claimed that the cost of compliance to date had exceeded 40 hours.
The EIA may, however, publish a further notice asking for public input for two months on the data it is permitted to gather, as both Riot and the TBC have agreed.
“Defendants agree that EIA will allow for submission of comments for 60 days, beginning on the date of publication of the New Federal Register Notice,” said the document.