DALLAS, TX --- Gray Reed is proud to announce a significant settlement in the case involving its clients, the Texas Blockchain Council, Riot Platforms, Inc., and the Digital Chamber of Commerce, against the Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Information Administration (EIA), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, EIA Administrator Joseph DeCarolis, and OMB Director Shalanda Young. This settlement represents a major stride in safeguarding the rights of the cryptocurrency industry and ensuring the lawful and transparent execution of data collection efforts.

“The government mandated the collection of a wealth of proprietary and sensitive information, singling out one industry for political reasons. Our clients were denied the opportunity to participate in the process, as was the rest of the public,” said Chris Davis, Partner at Gray Reed and Co-Chair of the firm’s Blockchain and Digital Assets practice group. “This settlement signifies a substantial victory for our clients and the wider cryptocurrency community.”

The settlement mandates that the Defendants do the following:

• The DOE and EIA will cease the “emergency” cryptocurrency mining survey, previously found to be unlawful.
• The EIA will destroy all information obtained as a result of the emergency survey.
• Any such information will be kept confidential and sequestered by the EIA until its destruction.
• A new notice of the proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register, followed by a standard 60-day notice-and-comment period, ensuring the public’s right to participate and preventing the circumvention of the standard process.
• If, after evaluating the received comments, the EIA decides to conduct a cryptocurrency mining survey, the Defendants will execute that clearance process in accordance with standard clearance processes as outlined in 5 CFR § 1320.10.
• The Defendants will bear the costs incurred by counsel for travel to Waco for the preliminary injunction hearing.

The lawsuit was initiated after the DOE and EIA issued a mandatory “emergency” survey compelling cryptocurrency mining companies to divulge sensitive information about their operations through a mandatory Cryptocurrency Mining Facilities Survey. The OMB had granted EIA emergency permission to collect this data, despite EIA’s failure to demonstrate that bypassing the statutory process would prevent public harm, as federal law mandates. Gray Reed demonstrated to the Court that the survey would cause irreparable harm to the Plaintiffs, in addition to the broader cryptocurrency community.

The case is Texas Blockchain Council, et al v. Department of Energy, et al, Case No. 6:24-cv-99, before U.S. District Judge Alan Albright. Gray Reed was proud to work alongside its co-counsel at the New Civil Liberties Alliance and Cherry Johnson Siegmund James.

About Gray Reed

A full-service Texas law firm with offices in Dallas, Houston, and Waco, Gray Reed provides legal services to companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 as well as high-net-worth individuals. Gray Reed attorneys assist clients with a myriad of legal issues including commercial litigation, corporate transactions, oil and gas, tax planning and litigation, real estate, construction, healthcare, trusts and estates, employment law, family law, intellectual property and bankruptcy. For more information, visit www.grayreed.com.