Senators opposed to Trump want to regulate Bitcoin mining

On April 10, 2025, Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman presented the project of Law S.1475, known as the Clean Cloud Actwhich proposes to regulate cryptoactive mining operations such as Bitcoin (BTC) and data centers for artificial intelligence (AI).

The proposal, which aims to mitigate the environmental impact of those energy intensive activities establishing environmental requirements for electrical consumption and emissions, includes financial sanctions for those who exceed the established standards. The law would apply to facilities with more than 100 kilowatts (KW) of nominal power installed in information technology.

The 100 KW threshold established by the project covers most of the operations of the large mining companies, since a single modern ASIC can consume between 3 and 4 kWand such a center operates with hundreds or thousands of units.

Just to mention an example of some of the Bitcoin ASICs currently used by these industrial mining farms, the Bitmain S21 S21 average of electrical consumption of between 3 and 6 kW, according to data from the Whattomine site.

Therefore, if a center used 1,000 units of a S21, I would easily exceed those 100 kWfalling within the orbit of this new bill.

A democratic project that will face Trump’s republican ideas

In the United States, the process of promulgation of a law begins with the presentation of a project in the Senate or the House of Representatives. After its introduction, the text is assigned to a pertinent committee, in this case, to a legislative analyst in the Congress Research Service, for its study and possible modifications.

If approved, the project passes to the corresponding camera for its debate and vote. To become law, it must be approved by both cameras in identical versions and then signed by the presidentwho has the power to veto it. This process can take months or even years.

Since Donald Trump, current president of the United States and the head of the Republican party, was promulgated in favor of Bitcoin mining and the generalized adoption of general assets, this project It could receive obstacles in the course of its treatment or in the final decision of the president.

Possible implications of the bill S.1475

If this law is approved, although it must still exceed an extensive legislative process, the miners would face an increase in operating costs, since they should invest in more efficient hardware, which would potentially reduce electricity consumption, or migrate to renewable energy sources to comply with emission limits.

Those who cannot adapt could choose to reduce their hardware capacity, limiting the amount of ASIC in operationwhich would decrease its computational power (hashrate) and, consequently, its profitability in an environment where the competition and the difficulty of the network are increasing.

In addition, the prohibition imposed by this law to transfer the tariffs of sanctions to customers It would force companies to absorb these fines, affecting their profitability and potentially encouraging the relocation of operations to regions with less strict regulations or greater access to clean energy, which could reconfigure the geographical distribution of mining in the country.

An approach to the environmental impact of mining

The bill Clean Cloud Act o Clean cloud law (s.1475), which adds amendments to the clean air law (Clean Air Act) of the United States, focuses on the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining operations and AI data centers.

These activities consume significant amounts of electricity, resulting in considerable emissions of greenhouse gases. Bitcoin mining, in particular, depends on the mechanism of consensus for proof of work (POW), a process that demands intensive energy usesince the hardware devices used continuously operate to compete for rewards.

The project highlights that «cryptocurrency mining in the United States consumes approximately the 2% of the total electricity supply of the country ». This figure, although significant, reflects the growing adoption of Bitcoin as active and system, but also highlights the environmental concerns of legislators.

Senators argue that, without regulation, the increase in these activities could hinder the national climatic objectives, including the reduction of emissions by 2030.

In that sense, cryptoactive mining is usually considered a high energy consumption activity. However, Cryptonoticias has on several occasions that, in some regions such as remote sites in Zambia, in Africa, or countries in Asians, such as Pakistan, Bitcoin mining is used to take advantage of the energy that would otherwise be wasted, optimizing the electricity grid.

In addition, there are other use cases, such as in a town in Finland, where the heat generated by the ASIC is used to heating households.

EMISSION AND SANCTION LIMITS

The text specifies that “the operators of cryptocurrency mining facilities and intensive computer data centers must submit annual reports to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about its use of electricity and the energy sources used.”

These reports must include: the total amount of kilowatts-Hora consumed by mining equipment; The energy sources used, detailing the proportion of electricity from coal, gas, hydroelectric, solar, wind or other sources; and equivalent carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂E).

In case of exceeding the established limits, the companies They would face financial sanctions. “The facilities that do not comply with emission standards will be subject to fines based on the amount of surplus emissions,” says Law S.1475.

The project establishes that the EPA will define the fines, as well as emission limits that will vary according to the region, recognizing the differences in local electrical networks. These limits, which are expected to be established at the end of 2025, will follow a decreasing trajectory of emissions that 11% will be reduced every year until reaching zero in 2035.

Fines for excess emissions

The facilities that exceed the regional limits will face economic rates. According to the expanded text, «the facilities that exceed the emission limits They will pay fees adjusted to inflation according to excess emissions ». This means that the amount of the fine will be proportional to the number of tons of CO₂E issued above the allowed standard.

For example, a mining center that emits 500 tons of co₂e beyond its limit will pay a rate greater than one that exceeds 50 tons, with annual adjustments to reflect inflation.

In addition to the fines for emissions, the facilities that do not present the required reports or provide inaccurate data will face additional sanctions, although the text does not detail the amount of these penalties.

Ultimately, and in accordance with the project text, the funds generated by these sanctions would not be allocated to the general budget, but would be used to alleviate possible increases in the cost of residential electricity through subsidies to local municipalities and also to finance the implementation of clean energy.