Kentucky lawmaker proposes extending clean energy incentives to crypto miners

Proposed legislation in Kentucky would, if approved, make crypto mines in the state eligible for incentives awarded to clean-energy facilities.

The bill, submitted in the Kentucky Senate earlier this month, applies changes to the state's Incentives for Energy Independence Act, signed into law in 2007. The idea behind the bill was to award tax incentives to business entities with buildings or operations that run on clean energy.

State Senator Brandon Smith's measure adjusts the language of the Act to include "cryptocurrency facilities with a minimum capital investment of one million dollars" that engage in mining activities. It doesn't specify what type of cryptocurrencies would be mined at those locations. 

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If approved, the legislation would become effective on July 1 of this year.

Other lawmakers in Kentucky have eyed incentives for crypto miners. In some ways, the bill mirrors one filed last month in the lower house of the Kentucky legislature. Like Smith's bill, that particular measure effectively puts tax incentives on the table in an effort to bring mining operations into the state.

Such legislative efforts come as the institutional footprint in the U.S. mining sector continues to grow, as previously reported by The Block. That push has come amid heightened demand for hardware and near-record prices for cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.