Lead representative Kathy Hochul marked the PoW ban bill into regulation on Nov. 22, almost four months after the bill was endorsed by the state senate.
The proof-of-work (PoW) mining moratorium was signed into law by New York governor Kathy Hochul on November 22, making it the first state in the United States to prohibit PoW crypto mining for two years.
Both new mining operations and license renewals for those already operating in the state will be denied under the PoW mining moratorium.The state could only allow any new PoW mining operation to operate if it used only renewable energy in its entirety.
The state assembly first approved the PoW mining bill in April of this year, and then the State Senate approved it in June. Governor Huchkul finally signed the bill into law as a result of lobbyist pressure and the need to meet its carbon emissions targets. Huchkul penned:
PoW mining consensus is primarily utilized by Bitcoin BTC tickers down $16,572 miners and a few other altcoins. “I will ensure that New York continues to be the center of financial innovation, while also taking important steps to prioritize the protection of our environment,” the statement reads. It is regarded as one of the most secure and decentralized methods for confirming a blockchain transaction. However, there have been arguments about the practice’s high energy consumption.
With 37.8 percent of the Bitcoin network’s hash rate coming from the United States, the country currently holds the highest share of Bitcoin mining hash rate by country. The two-year moratorium on PoW mining may prove costly and even set a precedent for other states to follow.
In a tweet, blockchain advocacy group Chamber of Digital Commerce exposed the false narrative:
The state’s claim that the mining industry uses more energy than any other industry is patently false.By 2050, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act mandates that the state of New York reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 85% and achieve net zero emissions across all sectors.
Although the PoW mining FUD is not new and has been disproven numerous times, advocates of proof-of-stake (PoS) mining have exerted a significant amount of lobbying over the past year.Chris Larsen, co-founder of Ripple and Greenpeace, has been advocating for a modification to the Bitcoin code.
Legislators, then again, have helpfully sidelined accessible examination reports that a huge piece of Bitcoin mining energy comes from inexhaustible sources.According to the Bitcoin mining council report, clean sources account for more than 60% of the BTC network’s electricity consumption.
In their Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislative proposal, European cryptocurrency regulators had proposed a similar PoW ban.However, advocates of banning operations utilizing PoW-based digital assets were unable to garner sufficient support, so MiCa legislation was passed without such a ban.
