On Tuesday, South Carolina’s Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill 163 into law, establishing a framework that is very favorable to cryptocurrency at the state level.
The bill reads:
“A political subdivision shall not change the zoning of a digital asset mining business without going through the proper notice and comment. A digital asset mining business may appeal a change in zoning to the proper court of jurisdiction.”
Shields from Restrictive Local Regulations
Protecting the rights of crypto users and miners and removing regulatory obstacles for companies working in the field, the measure prohibits state agencies from adopting central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and has already passed the Senate 38-1 and the House 110-1.
Federal Reserve-led digital currency trials, including federal agency pilot projects, are illegal for any state agency or political subdivision to accept, require payment in, or participate in on CBDCs.
It safeguards the right to keep cryptocurrency assets in one’s own possession by prohibiting governments from imposing restrictions on hardware wallets and self-hosted wallets and from taxing cryptocurrency transactions at a rate greater than similar US dollar transfers.
Bitcoin miners in industrial zones will have special safeguards under the new law. In addition to the noise limitations imposed by general pollution regulations, local governments are unable to put additional restrictions on mining companies that do not apply to other nearby industrial enterprises.
Miners, node operators, blockchain software developers, and crypto-to-crypto traders are among the many sectors that are not required by law to get money transmitter licenses. Security categorization does not apply to companies who provide mining or staking as a service.
In taking a stand in favor of cryptocurrency, South Carolina is the latest state to do so. Last March, Kentucky approved the Bitcoin Rights law, which protects mining firms from discriminatory municipal regulations and guarantees self-custody rights.
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