Creates new provisions relating to digital assets
SB 309, titled the “Blockchain Basics Act,” creates a new section of Missouri law governing digital assets, blockchain activity, and digital asset mining. The bill defines a range of terms, including blockchain, digital asset, node, staking, self-hosted wallet, and digital asset mining business, and then sets out protections for individuals and businesses using or supporting blockchain networks. It would prohibit the state and local governments from restricting the use of digital assets to buy lawful goods and services, and from interfering with self-custody of digital assets through self-hosted or third-party wallets.
The bill also limits how digital assets are taxed and regulated when used as payment. It bars additional state or local taxes, withholding, assessments, or charges based solely on using digital assets as a payment method, while preserving taxes that would apply if the transaction had been made in U.S. legal tender. It further provides that small digital-asset payment transactions under a $200 threshold, adjusted for inflation, would not be subject to capital gains tax. In addition, the bill protects home mining and industrial-scale mining operations from discriminatory local rules, restricts local governments from imposing more burdensome noise or zoning requirements than those applied to comparable uses, and prevents certain mining and staking activities from being treated as money transmission or securities under state law.
If enacted, SB 309 would significantly limit state and local regulatory authority over digital asset use, mining, staking, and node operation. It would create statutory protections for crypto payments, self-custody wallets, home mining, industrial mining businesses, and blockchain validators, while also constraining local zoning, noise, utility rate, and permitting rules that specifically target mining operations. The bill would also affect Missouri’s money transmitter and securities frameworks by excluding certain mining, staking, and node-related activities from those classifications, and it would direct the Public Service Commission to avoid discriminatory electricity rate schedules for digital asset mining businesses.
Based on the bill text and the absence of recorded committee testimony or votes, the overall sentiment appears supportive of digital asset innovation and industry development. The legislation is framed as a pro-crypto, pro-blockchain measure designed to protect users and businesses from restrictive or uneven treatment by government entities. Because there are no available transcripts or vote records in the provided materials, there is no documented opposition or formal debate to indicate broader legislative sentiment beyond the bill’s protective and deregulatory approach.
The main points of contention likely center on the bill’s limits on state and local authority, especially regarding zoning, noise regulation, utility rates, and taxation. Local governments may object to being prevented from imposing stricter rules on mining operations than on comparable industrial or data center uses, and utility regulators may be concerned about restrictions on rate design for high-energy users. Another likely area of dispute is the bill’s treatment of digital asset mining and staking as outside money transmitter and securities laws, which could be viewed by regulators as narrowing consumer-protection and enforcement tools. Supporters would likely argue the bill provides legal certainty and prevents discriminatory treatment of blockchain businesses, while critics may see it as overly protective of the industry.