The Texas Blockchain Council, an industry association for Bitcoin miners including Riot Platforms Inc., are suing the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration over a mandatory survey on their power consumption. The inquiry is “an unprecedented and illegal data collection demand” against the industry, the group said in a statement dated Feb. 22. Riot, one of the largest Bitcoin miners in the state, made $71 million last year, in part from prepurchasing electricity for its operations and selling some of it back to the grid for a premium amid power shortages. Bitcoin miners accounted for as much as ... (full story)