Crypto
Arkansas Senate committee approves two bills to regulate cryptocurrency mining • Arkansas Advocate
An Arkansas Senate committee unanimously approved two bills Thursday that would regulate cryptocurrency mining operations, and the committee will reconvene Tuesday to hear more public comment on the policies.
Republican Sens. Joshua Bryant of Rogers and Missy Irvin of Mountain View introduced the bills Wednesday after the House approved resolutions Wednesday allowing them to be introduced during the fiscal session. The Senate approved identical resolutions April 11.
The discussion of whether and how much to regulate crypto mines on the state level arose from Act 851 of 2023, or the Arkansas Data Centers Act, which limited local governments’ ability to regulate crypto mines.
Crypto mines, large groups of computers that harvest digital currency, are often located in rural areas because they take up a lot of space. They also require significant energy to operate and water to keep computers cool.
There are crypto mines in DeWitt and in the Bono community near Greenbrier, and officials have raised concerns over foreign ownership and whether the mines pose a national security risk. Additionally, Greenbrier-area residents have filed a lawsuit claiming noise pollution from the local crypto mine, which is in Irvin’s district.
Six of eight crypto mining resolutions fall short in Arkansas House
Bryant’s bill, Senate Bill 78, would place noise limits on Arkansas crypto mines, prohibit them from being owned by certain foreign entities and allow local governments to pass ordinances regulating the mines.
The bill’s listed options for noise regulations include “using liquid cooling or submerged cooling” techniques, sealing computers into structures that minimize the sound heard outside, and being located at least 2,000 feet away from “the nearest residential or commercial structure.”
Residents or business owners within 2,000 feet of a crypto mine would be able to seek legal remedies regarding noise complaints in county circuit courts, Bryant said.
The bill also clarifies that individuals can engage in crypto mining from their homes without government interference, he said.
“Digital asset mining in the home is limited to the confines of what your utilities can provide you based on your normal retail rate,” Bryant said. “This is a hobby; this is something your personal computer is able to do if you so choose…If you want to operate a business out of your home with this and declare that, then you must follow local guidelines and local ordinances.”
Irvin’s bill, Senate Bill 79, would require crypto mines to be licensed by the state Department of Energy and Environment. It would also require the department to inform legislative committees of its crypto mine regulation methods.
Both bills contain emergency clauses, meaning they would go into effect immediately if Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signs them into law.
Six more potential crypto regulation policies passed the Senate but failed in the House within the past week.
Senate Bill 78 largely accounts for one of the failed resolutions, which would have allowed local governments to regulate crypto mines and prohibit ownership of the mines by the list of foreign countries from which the federal International Traffic in Arms Regulations bans imports and exports.
Irvin said the two bills lay the groundwork to use “several layers of tools” to both regulate the crypto industry and have future discussions in the Legislature about whether to put additional regulations in place.
“There’s a lot we don’t know and that we still are learning, so I think we need the time to flesh all that out,” she said in an interview.
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Public comment
Jerry Lee Bogard and Kenneth Graves — both residents of Arkansas County, where the crypto mine near DeWitt is located — spoke in favor of both bills.
Graves is on the DeWitt School Board, and he said there is a school about two and a half miles from the crypto mine. Noise from the mine can travel up to eight and a half miles on a windy day, and he does not want the noise or the mine’s electricity usage to interfere with children’s education, he said.
Bogard runs the Grand Prairie Farming and Water Company, a water conservation business in Stuttgart, and he expressed concern about the effect of crypto mines on Arkansas’ groundwater supply. The Sparta/Memphis Aquifer in East Arkansas contains water clean enough to drink and does not recharge easily.
“One crypto mine may use a few million gallons of water,” Bogard said. “That’s not a big deal [by itself], but what is a big deal is that it’s coming out of an aquifer that we depend upon for human consumption. Twenty crypto mines may be a bit of a concern if you live nearby…any number of these small communities that have aging infrastructure and depend upon the Sparta Aquifer wells.”
John Bethel, director of public affairs at Entergy, answered questions from committee members about crypto mines’ impact on local electric grids.
Bethel said the utility company notifies customers who are straining the grid, such as crypto miners, that their access to electricity will be shut off if they do not reduce their usage. Customers who do not comply with the notification will receive financial penalties that Entergy will later retract if the customer only fails to comply twice in a year, Bethel said.
Committee chair Sen. Scott Flippo, R-Bull Shoals, said those who do not heed Entergy’s warnings might need to face stricter consequences.
Earlier Thursday, the Senate voted to suspend the rule requiring a bill not to be heard in committee under 24 hours after being introduced. Sen. Stephanie Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, expressed frustration that the vote might limit public comment, since her district includes part of Arkansas County.
Bryant and Irvin agreed, at Flippo’s suggestion, to refer the bills back to the committee next week so they can receive more public comment at Tuesday’s meeting.
Crypto
Institutional Crypto Adoption ‘Happening Now’: Ripple Executive Says Real-World Use Cases Taking Hold
Key Takeaways:
- Ripple says institutional adoption of digital assets is happening now.
- Craddock states the focus has shifted to infrastructure and real-world use cases.
- Paris events showed strong momentum, with Ripple citing real industry energy.
Institutional Digital Asset Adoption Gains Momentum
Institutional adoption of digital assets is gaining momentum across global finance, marking a decisive shift as major firms move beyond experimentation into active deployment. Ripple’s managing director for the U.K. and Europe, Cassie Craddock, reinforced this momentum on April 20, pointing to Paris Blockchain Week 2026 and related industry events as evidence that large-scale crypto adoption is already underway.
Craddock stated on social media platform X:
“Institutional adoption of digital assets isn’t something that’s on the horizon. It’s happening now.”
“The debate has moved on. The focus is on infrastructure and real-world use cases. And the people I was fortunate enough to spend time with this week are the ones building it. Banks, asset managers, fintechs, and regulators, all discussing how to do this properly and at scale,” she further shared.
The executive tied that view to meetings held across the Ripple Roadshow Paris, Paris Blockchain Week itself, Mastercard Crypto Day at the Eiffel Tower, and Société Générale-FORGE’s event at the French Ministry of Finance. She explained that discussions no longer centered on whether institutions would engage with the sector. Instead, participants examined infrastructure, deployment standards, and real-world use cases that could support broader activity across regulated financial markets.
Paris Events Highlight Structured Industry Buildout
The comments suggest that digital asset conversations among large organizations are becoming more operational. Craddock referenced exchanges with speakers including David Durouchoux, Myles Harrison, and Frédéric Dalibard, while also highlighting the presence of banks, asset managers, fintechs, and regulators. That mix suggests several parts of the financial system are considering similar questions around scale and execution. Rather than focusing on abstract potential, the gatherings in Paris appeared to center on how institutions can build and apply digital asset systems in a structured way.
The Ripple executive added that the people involved in those meetings are “the ones building it.” She also concluded:
“The energy was real, the momentum even more so.”
These remarks reflect Ripple’s view that institutional interest is moving from long-term expectation to active development. By stressing implementation and participation from established financial groups, the post framed Paris Blockchain Week as a signal that digital asset adoption is advancing within mainstream finance.
Crypto
Scattered Spider hacker pleads guilty to stealing $8 million in cryptocurrency – Help Net Security
A British national tied to the Scattered Spider cybercrime group pleaded guilty to hacking multiple companies via SMS phishing and stealing over $8 million in virtual currency from US victims.
Tyler Robert Buchanan, 24, of Dundee, Scotland, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
In November 2024, US authorities unsealed criminal charges against Buchanan and four other alleged members of the Scattered Spider group, accusing them of using phishing text messages to steal employee credentials, breach company systems and steal cryptocurrency.
According to court documents, Buchanan and his co-conspirators conducted cyber intrusions and virtual currency thefts between September 2021 and April 2023.
The victims included interactive entertainment, telecommunications and technology companies, as well as business process outsourcing (BPO) and IT service providers, cloud communications firms, virtual currency companies and individual victims.
“As part of the scheme, Buchanan and his co-conspirators conducted Short Message Service (SMS) phishing attacks by sending hundreds of SMS phishing messages to the mobile telephones of a victim company’s employees. The messages purported to be from the victim company or a contracted IT or BPO supplier for the victim company,” the Justice Department said.
“The SMS phishing messages contained links to phishing websites designed to look like legitimate websites of a victim company or a contracted IT or BPO supplier. The websites then lured the recipient into providing confidential information, including personal identifying information (PII), and account usernames and passwords.”
In April 2023, police found on a digital device at Buchanan’s residence in Scotland the names and addresses of numerous victims, including a text file containing cryptocurrency seed phrases and login credentials for one account.
Buchanan has been in federal custody since April 2025 and faces up to 22 years in federal prison.
Co-conspirator Noah Michael Urban is serving a 10-year federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay $13 million in restitution after pleading guilty in April 2025 to fraud-related charges. Three other defendants charged alongside Buchanan, including Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, Evans Onyeaka Osiebo and Joel Martin Evans, still face criminal charges in the case.
Scattered Spider is a cybercrime collective, also known as UNC3944, Muddled Libra and Octo Tempest, made up largely of young, native English-speaking hackers who use social engineering, including impersonating IT and help-desk staff, to gain initial access, bypass MFA, and compromise enterprise networks.
The group gained notoriety for its role in high-profile hacking and extortion attacks against Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, two of the largest casino operators in the US.
Although authorities have increased pressure on the group and arrested several members, including four they consider responsible for ransomware attacks targeting UK-based retailers last year, the group continues to operate, with new members replacing those arrested.
Key Takeaways:
- Ripple outlines a phased roadmap to prepare XRPL for quantum-era cryptography risks.
- Industry momentum grows as XRPL testing highlights performance and security tradeoffs.
- Developers at Ripple will expand testing to balance innovation with network stability.
Ripple Maps Quantum Security Strategy
Ripple’s post-quantum strategy reflects a growing shift in blockchain security as quantum computing risks gain credibility. The company’s latest Insight, published April 20 by Senior Director of Engineering Ayo Akinyele, outlined a structured roadmap to prepare the XRP Ledger for future cryptographic disruption while preserving network performance.
The Insight stated:
“Ripple is introducing a multi-phase roadmap to prepare the XRP Ledger (XRPL) for a post-quantum future, with a target for full readiness by 2028.”
It also detailed collaboration efforts: “Ripple is working with Project Eleven to accelerate development, including validator testing and early custody prototypes.”
Akinyele explained that quantum security is becoming more relevant because blockchain networks rely on cryptographic systems that could eventually be broken by sufficiently advanced quantum computers. On XRPL, each signed transaction reveals a public key on-chain, which could weaken long-term wallet security in a post-quantum environment.
He also pointed to the “harvest now, decrypt later” threat, where attackers collect cryptographic data today and wait for future quantum capabilities to exploit it. While this does not indicate an immediate failure of current protections, it increases the urgency of preparing systems that secure long-duration value. These risks reinforce the need for early testing of quantum-resistant cryptographic systems and structured migration planning.
XRPL Testing Targets Long-Term Stability
Ripple’s roadmap consists of four phases, starting with contingency planning for a potential failure of existing cryptographic standards. This includes a “Quantum-Day” framework designed to enable secure migration to post-quantum accounts if vulnerabilities emerge. Additional phases focus on evaluating National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-recommended algorithms under real network conditions, measuring impacts on throughput, storage, and verification efficiency. XRPL’s native features, including key rotation and deterministic key generation, provide a technical advantage by enabling gradual migration without forcing users to abandon existing accounts. Parallel testing on development networks will allow developers to assess performance tradeoffs before broader implementation.
The senior director of engineering emphasized long-term execution and coordination, stating:
“We should not view addressing the quantum threat on XRPL as a single upgrade, but rather a multi-phased strategy of carefully migrating a live, global financial infrastructure without compromising the value of digital assets protected by the XRPL.”
Akinyele indicated that achieving post-quantum readiness requires balancing cryptographic innovation with operational stability, ensuring the network remains efficient while adapting to future security challenges.
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