On Friday, June 3, the New York State Senate passed a bill aimed at proof-of-work mining (PoW) in aims to discuss some of the environmental concerns voiced about cryptocurrencies.
To validate transaction requests, Bitcoin (BTC) and a few other cryptocurrency projects use the PoW consensus.
The bill, which was passed by the state Assembly in May, would place a two-year halt on any new carbon-based fuel-powered PoW mining ventures in New York. Current mining companies or those in the process of updating their licenses, on the other hand, would be allowed to continue activities.
There is now just one facility of this type in existence, and it will be unaffected by the legislation, according to Senator Kevin Parker, the bill’s Democratic sponsor. He also stated that one of the pending applications may be delayed indefinitely until the research was completed.
Many people predicted that the bill would fail in committee as it had the previous year, following the inability of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee to consider the bill at its final meeting of the session.
Senator Todd Kaminsky, the committee’s chairman, expressed concern in May that the bill might harm New York’s economy if it was perceived as anti-Bitcoin and anti-crypto. People are more inclined to oppose the proposal if they have this view.
However, due to a last-minute referral from the Environmental Conservation Committee to the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee on Thursday evening, June 2, the proposal barely made it to the whole Senate floor for a vote just a few hours before the legislative session ended at midnight.
Because of the state’s comparatively affordable hydroelectric power, Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrency mining enterprises have long considered New York a viable location for launching.
Mining companies have started reusing previously abandoned coal power plants for their own needs in recent years.
Mining businesses operating in New York have openly announced their desire to move to areas that are more mining-friendly, such as Texas if the proposed ban passes.