It’s nearly unbelievable that Ohio has House members willing to put their name on this lunacy.
Ohio House Bill 406 is officially titled the “Ohio Blockchain Basics Act.” Truth in advertising would relabel this absurd empowerment of cryptocurrency as the “Ohio Blockhead Blunder Act.”
The legislation, introduced with no fanfare in February, rolls out a red carpet welcome for an industry best known for multibillion dollar scams and massive draws on the electric infrastructure for “mining” the digital assets.
Mining, of course, sounds like something real. What’s actually happening is the creation of crypto Beanie Babies to be bought and sold as an alternative currency. It’s a wonderful innovation for terrorists and drug dealers and perhaps the electric utilities, assuming regulators allow massive new investments of power plants and grid upgrades to be paid for by business and residential users.
Under this bill, to incentivize the crypto mining, Ohio local governments would be prohibited from using zoning or noise ordinances to stop the blockchain builders from operating anywhere they please, including next door to you.
This example of Ohio legislative stupidity on steroids goes so far as to require the state’s public pensions to evaluate cryptocurrency for investment and prepare reports for the General Assembly on how they would minimize risks.
There are $6 trillion dollars in U.S. public pension funds. Some states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, have begun speculating in cryptocurrency, recklessly providing credibility of institutional investment in an asset category that has no inherent value.
Driving public pension funds into the market for cryptocurrency adds enormous value to digital assets held by wealthy speculators fueling the drive to legitimize blockchain bucks.
If state pensions normalize crypto as a suitable retirement asset, the $21 trillion in IRAs or 401(k) accounts will inevitably follow. The “Ohio Blockchain Basics Act” will help add billions to the bank accounts of the wealthy advocates trying to create an industry on a speculative instrument with the deliberately misleading title of currency.
Ohio already imperils actual industrial growth with tax incentives for data centers that consume more electricity than most counties in the state, but provide just a few jobs.
Moreover, without much more generation capacity coming on line, the power to keep air conditioners humming cannot be taken for granted.
Cryptocurrency is just another form of digital data that consumes a huge portion of resources, creating wealth for a small group but leaving nothing of enduring value.
If cryptocurrency is suitable for public pensions and individual retirement accounts, then a wager on Ohio State football should be acceptable as it too is a speculation that creates nothing of inherent value.
Furthermore, that foolish idea wouldn’t suck down energy and force electric power consumers to pay for additional generating capacity.
It’s nearly unbelievable that Ohio has House members willing to put their name on this lunacy. Most troubling is that one of the three sponsors of the “Ohio Blockchain Basics Act” is Rep. Josh Williams (R., Sylvania Township).
Mr. Williams is hard-working and articulate but in pushing this obvious sellout to a single interest, those normally admirable traits are put to dangerous use. Good judgment is the most important quality in a lawmaker, and Mr. Williams has shown none with his support for the terrible policy called for in H.B. 4
Toledo Blade Editorial Board August 11, 2024
Here is H.B. 406 as introduced in the House: https://www.legislature.ohio.gov/legislation/135/hb406
Here are the sponsors of H.B. 406:
Rep. Steve Demetrious (District 35) Email: rep35@ohiohouse.gov X: @Steve4OhioHouse
Rep. Riordan T. McClain (District 87) Email: rep87@ohiohouse.gov X: @RiordanMcClain
Rep. Josh Williams (District 41) Email: rep41@ohiohouse.gov X: @JoshWilliamsOH
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