Why Miner Tax Plan Won’t Work: Marathon CEO’s Response

Recall that the idea of ​​a 30 percent tax for miners became known in early May 2023. The voiced reason for such a tough decision was the negative impact of the owners of ASIC miners on the environment.

Despite such a news background, the popularity of Bitcoin mining is increasing. In particular, on Thursday, another recalculation of the BTC mining difficulty took place, as a result of which the indicator increased by 3.22 percent to a record level of 49.55 T.

It is also important to note that the average hash rate on the Bitcoin network over the past two weeks has been 354 exahash per second. And this is also the maximum of the corresponding indicator.

What is the tax on mining?

Thiel hinted that due to the plans of the presidential administration, a massive outflow of miners from the country could begin. At the same time, the main goal of the taxation plan will not be fulfilled, the expert believes. Here is his corresponding remark on this subject, which is given by The Block.

In fact, this will lead to a decrease in the amount of “green electricity” produced. Today, the construction of a solar or wind power plant takes a very long time, because the queue for connection is two years. And Bitcoin miners provide an economic incentive for people in the energy industry.

То есть эксперт считает, что подобная норма налога не только не защитит экологию, но и ухудшит ситуацию с ней. Всё же в США возобновляемые источники энергии среди майнеров пользуются спросом. Ну а возможный переезд владельцев ASIC-майнеров в другие страны и регионы может изменить происходящее в худшую сторону.

Recall that the bill under the abbreviation DAME is designed to stimulate the use of renewable energy sources by miners. Well, since this takes a lot of time, the number of people who want to wait may not be so large.

На самом деле "забота об окружающей среде" – это просто предлог для давления на индустрию цифровых активов, считает представитель Marathon. Майнеров Биткоина обвиняют в слишком большой и "нецелесообразной" растрате электроэнергии, хотя в тех же США немало других предприятий, которые расходуют намного больше ресурса при меньших экономических выгодах. Сам представитель Marathon отмечает, что его сотрудники уже ищут возможности расширения в других регионах мира.

In addition to the tax plan, major mining companies in America have rivals in the banking industry, Thiel argues. Here is his quote on the matter.

The banking lobby is really present in the game. They do not want the development of the crypto industry, which undermines the banking industry. Bitcoin mining in Texas eliminates the need for power plants, so it negatively impacts their business.

Marathon recently received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, Thiel assured that the notification is not a sign of any threat: for now, the regulator is simply asking for additional information about the mining company. He’s interested in possible violations of federal securities law on the company’s farm in Hardin. That is, such a notice is alarming in any case.

If regulators and politicians cannot be resisted, they must be lobbied, a practice already resorted to by the companies behind the most popular stablecoins. According to Decrypt, relatively large amounts of funds have already been spent on lobbying the interests of crypto companies among legislators since the beginning of this year.

Here, Tether and Circle are leading, which are issuing USDT and USDC tokens, respectively. In total, they spent more than a million dollars to protect their own interests. In particular, every quarter Tether pays a minimum of $120,000 to the consulting firm FTI, and this money is only used to lobby interests in the field of stablecoin regulation. In total, since the beginning of 2022, Tether has spent at least $600,000 on such transactions.

Tether Lobbying Statistics

This information was commented by the speaker of the company. Here is his quote.

As a responsible industry player, Tether considers it essential to contribute to the development of a transparent and balanced regulatory framework that promotes innovation while ensuring consumer protection along with market integrity.

Circle is actively partnering with experts from Invariant to advise policy makers on business matters, services that cost the stablecoin issuer $100,000 per quarter. In total, since the end of 2021, Circle has spent about $560,000 in this area.

Given what is happening, it can be assumed that lobbying interests among US politicians can become an important part of the development of local crypto firms. It may even be possible in this way to “push through” regulations that would contribute to the long-term growth of the industry.


Мы считаем, что действия властей и регуляторов США в 2023 году действительно похоже на репрессии против индустрии криптовалют. Пока местные комиссии не спешат создавать адекватные правила для работы ниши цифровых активов, а разве что выписывают штрафы популярным компаниям. Хочется верить, что подобное отношение изменится, ну а чиновники смогут разглядеть правильный подход для взаимодействия с перспективной индустрией.