for clients. Further, emerging regulations, like the GENIUS Act of July 2025 (S.1582) (providing a regulatory framework for stablecoins) and state Bitcoin mining incentives like those in Wyoming , require expertise in compliance and tax structures. These legal services enable energy producers and Bitcoin miners to navigate environmental, contractual, and royalty issues, capitalizing on Bitcoin’s continued growth and integration with energy infrastructure.
enables instant, borderless transactions, surpassing gold’s physical constraints. These benefits, rooted in the Proof of Work’s reliance on energy, position Bitcoin as a transformative asset reshaping energy utilization and financial systems, with producers and attorneys supporting its integration. For any assistance or questions, we encourage you to contact the author, Braden L. Christopher . steptoe-johnson.com.
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Transformative Potential
Bitcoin’s Proof of Work model transforms energy into a decentralized, global, and permissionless financial network currently valued at $2.3 trillion. As with gold, its energy-intensive mining process ensures scarcity and value, but its digital nature
National Niche OCS Litigation and NPR-A Rollback – Future Offshore and Onshore Leasing Possibilities for Federal Lands
Over the past months, two developments have reshaped the outlook for oil and gas leasing opportunities on federal lands. First, federal courts have approved the Department of the Interior (DOI) Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) leasing program for 2024-2029 and limited the President’s power to withdraw OCS lands from consideration for future leasing. Second, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has moved to unwind the 2024 National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska (NPR-A) Management and Protection Rule and, on October 22, issued a call for nominations for the first NPR-A lease sale since 2019.
effective on July 1, 2024, pursuant to the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) § 18, the program is DOI’s five-year schedule for offshore leasing, allowing for up to three Gulf of Mexico sales in 2025, 2027, and 2029. The Circuit decision rejected program-stage challenges and confirmed the scheduled sales. Subsequently, on October 2, in Louisiana v. Biden , 2:25-cv-00071, slip op. (W.D. La. Oct. 2, 2025) (Cain, J.), the Western District of Louisiana granted summary judgment to coastal states and industry groups, declaring unlawful two January 6 memoranda that purported to withdraw hundreds of millions of OCS acres from oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Eastern Gulf of Mexico “for a time period without specific expiration.” The court held that OCSLA § 12(a) authorizes presidential withdrawals from time to time but does not permit an incumbent President to bind successors with an indefinite, effectively permanent withdrawal without clear congressional authorization.
Offshore: Federal Courts Direct OCS Leasing Expectations
On August 29, in Healthy Gulf v. U.S. Department of the Interior , No. 24-1024, slip op. (D.C. Cir. Aug. 29, 2025), the D.C. Circuit upheld the 2024-2029 National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program. Made
G rowth T hrough E ducat i on - O c tober / N ov ember / D e c ember 2025 19
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