The President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) proposed a thirty percent tax on miners to prevent them from spoiling the climate. The Council proposed the tax to be phased in over three years, starting with 10% the following year. In 2025, raise the tax to 20 percent, and then to 30 percent. The proposed cryptocurrency mining tax is expected to add about $3.5 billion to the state’s coffers over ten years.
Thanks to DAME miners will be more aware of the harm they do to society, according to CEA. CEA explained that the high consumption of electricity by miners has a negative impact on the environment, power grids and even on people’s quality of life. At the same time, mining farms are scattered all over the country. CEA argues that mining companies increase greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere, their activities raise electricity prices, and that the miners are not being compensated for the damage they cause.
Last September, the White House released a report stating that cryptocurrency miners use more energy than all of Australia: between 0.9% and 1.7% of the total electricity consumption of the entire United States. Tom Mapes, head of energy policy at the Chamber of Digital Commerce, said the tax would be another way for authorities to put pressure on the industry, which officials see as a threat.
“The U.S. authorities just don’t like this industry, and they are looking for any way to clip its wings,” the crypto-enthusiast put it. Economist James Broughel criticized the White House’s proposal, arguing that it would make more sense to tax greenhouse gas emissions from mining cryptocurrencies rather than electricity use itself. It makes no sense to make companies pay a tax if they use renewable energy sources, Brogel resented. Earlier, MicroStrategy founder Michael Saylor supported the miners, saying that they lower citizens’ electricity bills and use excess energy that would be wasted.