Currently, the pressure to suspend cryptocurrency and Bitcoin mining in the United States is gaining force in New York as the New York environmental agency evaluates the impact of crypto mining on the environment.
On Monday, the New York state senate submitted a bill to enforce a 3-year pause on cryptocurrency mining across the state. In their intentions, crypto mining should be suspended until the feds discover its effect on the environment and climate. Bill A7389B is sponsored by senate members Ken Zebrowski, Amy Paulin, and 43 others.
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Over the while, crypto mining has gotten a growing regulation for massive carbon footprint attached to power consumption for 24/7 operations. A report by Digiconomist places the worldwide mining footprint at circa 53 megatons of CO2 per annum, which is about the same amount as Sweden’s carbon emissions annually.
Of recent, the upper sides of New York have become a hot region of crypto mining activities, and there are possibilities of additional crypto mines in the works.
What Is The Bill We’re Talking About?
The A7389B is a proposal by the New York Senate to pause crypto consensus mechanism activity, the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm that requires users to mine crypto coins. The proposal stated that the suspension should span for three years.
Adding to the 3-year pause of Bitcoin and crypto mining at previous fossil fuel power stations, the Bill stated that the NYSDEC (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation) would scrutinize the cryptocurrency mining industry within the state. According to the Bill, this scrutiny will assess the effect of crypto and Bitcoin mining on air quality, water, greenhouse gas production.
One of the state reps, Anna Kelles, explained last month that information gotten from the NYSEC would enable the agency to determine whether it’d be proper to ban crypto mining or not outrightly.
The primary motivation, she emphasized, is that the state’s senate is ensuring that the crypto industry doesn’t inhibit them from accomplishing their climate goals. Thus, she submitted the legislation to the New York legislature in May 2021.
Bitcoin Mining And The New York Senate
All the same, for this Bill to be passed into law, a more significant segment of the state assembly member to vote it in. Presently, out of 150 members, 45 are sponsoring the Bill, so that’s quite a distance for the Bill to go.
Furthermore, governmental candidate Jumaane Williams supported the legislation because of environmental worries and what it sees as the deteriorative effect of crypto mining activities.
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The PoW (Proof-of-Working) operations require using high-end computers focused on executing high-end computations and solving cryptographic puzzles needed on the blockchain. Some well-known crypto projects that use PoW mining include ETH and the world’s leading cryptocurrency – Bitcoin.
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com