The New York Senate has passed a controversial bill to ban proof-of-work (PoW) mining, preventing any new Bitcoin (BTC) mining operations in the state.
The PoW mining ban bill was first passed by the state assembly last April. His goal is to ban any new digital mining operations in the state for the next two years. Now, the bill is headed to the governor’s office, which, once approved, would make New York the first state within the United States to impose a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining.
Consensus PoW mining is predominantly used by Bitcoin miners and is considered one of the safest and most decentralized forms of digital mining. However, the practice is quite controversial because it requires an incredibly high amount of energy.
In voting on the bill, many senators went from undecided to support, saying they are concerned about carbon emissions.
The bill would not only prohibit new mining facilities, but also deny license renewals to those already operating in the state. Any new PoW mining facility in the state would only be able to operate if it uses 100% renewable energy.
Bitcoin’s mining consensus mechanism has been one of the most controversial topics of debate among policymakers, aided by billionaire and green lobbyists who support the far less power consuming proof-of-stake mining consensus. Greenpeace, as well as Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, have campaigned to change Bitcoin’s code.
Policymakers often only focus on the high energy consumption of Bitcoin miners, ignoring the fact that a significant portion of this energy comes from renewable sources, especially in New York where 50% of energy is produced from renewable sources.
Criticism of PoW mining gathered steam last year at the height of the bull run. Nevertheless, At the end of last year, a report by the Bitcoin Mining Council led by MicroStrategy highlighted that more than 60% of the electricity consumption of the BTC network comes from clean sources.
The European Parliament proposed a similar ban on PoW mining, but modified the proposal to remove the ban amid growing public scrutiny.
Experts believe that New York’s decision to ban PoW mining would create a domino effect and other states could follow.. The United States is currently the world leader in Bitcoin mining hash rate, with 38% of the network’s mining power.
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