Following a string of bankruptcies and fraud revelations that permeated the ‘crypto winter’ throughout 2022 and culminated with the collapse of FTX – once among the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world – there was a lot of talk among U.S. politicians about the need to ban cryptocurrencies in the country.
In 2023, numerous individual states – including Missouri, Arkansas, and Montana, for example – started work on creating and passing laws that would guarantee the rights of cryptocurrency miners. At the time, the laws were primarily designed to prevent discrimination regarding utility access and similar matters.
By early 2024, the crypto market and community largely moved on with events such as the approval of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the upcoming Bitcoin halving, and others, and the U.S. politicians turned notably more positive toward cryptocurrencies with some even accepting them as donations for their presidential bids.
However, much as some crypto hardliners like Elizabeth Warren remain, so does the states’ work on enshrining the rights to crypto-related activity continue, and, once again, Missouri appears to be in the very vanguard of the movement.