Arkansas asks Eighth Circuit to lift injunction on its foreign crypto mining restriction law

On October 21, citing Bloomberg Law, Arkansas and its Oil and Gas Commission asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit during oral arguments on Tuesday to lift a lower court order. The order bars enforcement of the state's law restricting foreign entities from holding digital asset mining operations. The lower court previously found that the law may have been preempted by federal regulations. Joseph Nelson of the Arkansas Attorney General's Office disputed that finding. He said the law falls within the core of the state's police power, and its restrictions target the same countries the federal government has identified as threats to national security. The law, passed in 2024, prohibits citizens or businesses of countries subject to U.S. State Department arms export controls from holding interests in the state's digital asset mining equipment.