Illinois, Georgia Want To Give Tax Cuts For Bitcoin Miners

While some U.S. states push bitcoin miners away, others seek ways to welcome and retain them.

U.S. states are keen on bitcoin miners and see tax cuts as the best tool to attract them.

Illinois State legislation first filed in January that this week picked up a co-sponsorship from Democrat Senator Julie Morrison is seeking to extend a data center tax incentive program to bitcoin mining farms, The Block first reported.

Now-bipartisan Bill 3643, filed by Republican State Sen. Sue Rezin, would amend the civil administrative code of Illinois to include data centers engaged in bitcoin mining and bring them under the state’s 2019 tax incentive program, encouraging the establishment of new farms.

A bitcoin mining farm would qualify for the program provided it makes an investment of at least $250 million, creates at least 20 jobs, and achieves carbon neutrality or green building certification, among other requirements.

Georgia is following a similar path as lawmakers this week introduced legislation that would incentivize bitcoin miners to set up shop there, The Block first reported.

Georgia House Bill 1342, introduced by a quintet of Republican state representatives, aims to exempt the sale or use of electricity used in the commercial mining of bitcoin and cryptocurrency.

The state has “done everything in their power to grow Bitcoin,” executive chairman of bitcoin mining company CleanSpark, Matt Schultz, told Bloomberg earlier this month. “At the end of the day, Georgia wants this business here.”

Georgia has emerged as a go-to destination for miners among the states that are welcoming the industry, mainly due to its low power prices and a large amount of nuclear and solar power, the Bloomberg report said.

Georgia’s favorable regulation and low energy rates have led bitcoin mining machines to flock to the state – a trend that is set to increase steeply in the event that the new law gets enacted and further brings down costs to install bitcoin mining operations.