The Arkansas Cryptomining Association is suing two Arkansas state officials, arguing that they enforced an unconstitutional and discriminatory state rule prohibiting foreign-born American citizens from engaging in crypto-mining activities, among other things.
The complaint was made against Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and the director of the Arkansas Oil and Gas Commission, Lawrence Bengal, on March 13 in the US District Court Eastern District of Arkansas.
It follows a federal court ruling last November that temporarily barred Arkansas from preventing a naturalized US citizen of Chinese descent from operating a crypto mining business.
The Arkansas state rules concerned are “Rule K” and “Act 174,” which prohibits foreign-party controlled businesses in the state.
Director Connor L. Kempton of the Arkansas Cryptomining Association said the vagueness of Rule K and Act 174 gives the defendants arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement powers, enabling them to grant or deny