The US state of Mississippi is one step closer to protecting the rights of cryptocurrency miners after the state Senate passed the Mississippi Digital Asset Mining Act on February 8. The state House of Representatives is considering a similar bill.
The Senate bill, authored by State Senator Josh Harkins, legalizes mining of digital assets at home and operating mining companies in industrial use zones. There are already cryptocurrency miners operating in Mississippi, which has some of the lowest electricity rates in the country. However, the bill stated:
“Digital asset mining has often faced regulatory challenges at the state and local level.”
In addition, the bill prohibits limiting domestic mining noise beyond existing limits, imposing requirements on miners beyond those applied locally to data centers, or changing the zoning of a mining center without proper notice and the opportunity to appeal. Prohibits the Public Utility Commission from imposing discriminatory rates on mining companies and exempts household and corporate miners from money transmitter status.
The bill also provides the state with a legal definition of “virtual currency.”
Mississippi is one of the states in which the Satoshi Action Fund has been active. The Fund’s CEO, Dennis Porter, spoke at a Mississippi Senate Finance Committee meeting in January and mentioned the potential for cryptocurrency miners to use orphaned oil and gas wells as a source of energy.
₿: Mississippi Senate passes historic bill protecting #bitcoin mining
“It shall be legal in the State of Mississippi to run a node for the purpose of home digital asset mining” and “operate a digital asset mining business” pic.twitter.com/AiVbw9AtIi
— Documenting ₿itcoin (@DocumentingBTC) February 9, 2023
Both the Senate and House bills mention orphan wells. The chamber bill would create a state Digital Asset Mining Board that would consider the use of the shafts as a source of mining power and other issues throughout the year. The House of Representatives bill has been approved by the Ways and Means Committee, but has not been debated in plenary.
The Mississippi legislation stands in stark contrast to the two-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining passed in New York and signed into law in November.
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