September 9, 2026 (Washington, D.C.) The Crypto Council for Innovation and Blockchain Association filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in the Circuit Court of Sangamon County, Illinois, asking the court to bar the State of Illinois from enforcing the Digital Asset Tax Act before it takes effect on January 1, 2027 to protect digital asset firms from suffering irreparable harm.
The two organizations first jointly challenged the unlawful State tax in August. The motion asks the court to stop the State from collecting this unprecedented and flawed tax before it goes into effect.
Digital asset companies are already being forced to spend millions of dollars to develop systems to try to comply with the Act on an expedited basis, without meaningful guidance on core questions, all under the threat of the Act’s criminal penalties.
Businesses are also likely to lose customers once the Act goes into effect as customers shift to assets not subject to any similar tax. To prevent those harms that cannot be undone and preserve the status quo, CCI and BA ask the court to grant a preliminary injunction.
“Companies are being asked to spend millions to build systems for a tax that violates their Constitutional rights without answers to basic questions about what is taxed and when, all under the threat of criminal penalties. These costs are being borne right now, against a January 1 deadline, forcing companies to divert key resources and employees to a clearly unlawful tax. Businesses are also losing customers who will move away from digital asset activities and allocate capital to assets Illinois does not tax. A ruling that arrives after the tax takes effect does not undo these harms. We are therefore asking the court to preserve the status quo rather than let an unlawful tax operate first and sort it out later,” said Ji Hun Kim, Chief Executive Officer, Crypto Council for Innovation.
“Illinois has enacted a first-in-the-nation tax that unfairly singles out digital commerce, fragments a national market, and exposes companies and ordinary Illinoisans to severe penalties – including felony liability for companies – for guessing wrong about an indeterminate statute. It projects roughly $60 million in revenue from this tax against more than $224 billion in appropriations, and under the Protest Monies Act the State likely could not spend those funds during this litigation anyway. The State loses very little by waiting. Everyone else loses a great deal by forging ahead. And if this Act stands, Illinois will not be the last state to try it,” said Summer Mersinger, Chief Executive Officer, Blockchain Association.
Media Contacts:
Crypto Council for Innovation: Amanda Russo, [email protected]
Blockchain Association: Curtis Kincaid, [email protected]
About the Crypto Council for Innovation
The Crypto Council for Innovation is the premier global alliance for advancing crypto innovation. CCI represents the sector’s leading firms as we advocate for clear evidence-based policies that support responsible innovation using blockchain technology. It has teams in Washington D.C., New York, San Francisco, Brussels, London, and Hong Kong.
Blockchain Association is the leading nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting a pro-innovation policy environment for the digital asset industry. Blockchain Association represents more than 100 member companies, including software developers, infrastructure providers, exchanges, custodians, investors, and other organizations supporting the public blockchain ecosystem.
