New York will shut down crypto mining farms that depend on fossil fuels

The New York State Assembly has passed legislation to shut down the operations of the new crypto mining farms they use as a source of fossil fuel energy. Existing crypto mining farms and those using renewable resources are excluded.

The New York State Assembly has passed a law against fossil fuel mining

New approved House Act A7389C, sponsored by Democrat Anna Kelles, blocks all new cryptocurrency companies in New York State that use fossil fuels as an energy source.

Specifically, the bill will impose a two-year moratorium on these new carbon-based cryptocurrencies. However, existing farms or those using renewable energy sources are an exception to the ban.

After Monday’s vote of the House Committee with a ratio of 95:52, the proposal is now being passed by the State Senate.

This legislative move affects all Proof-of-Work cryptocurrencies, but in reality it is primarily BTC mining that companies most often deal with.

BREAKING: New York State passes a bill in the assembly to ban #BTC mining, citing energy wastage and harmful environmental impacts. pic.twitter.com/BkqywAxKZi

– CryptoWhale → (@CryptoWhale) April 27, 2022

The new law could therefore affect the entire cryptocurrency sector, with BTC being the king, both in terms of price and market. In addition, the move could spur relocation of miners, which could affect the geopolitical interests of the United States.

Prohibition of BTC mining in the European Union

New York to some extent copies what has already happened in Europe in the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package, to which was proposed add a rule restricting Proof of Work in the 27 EU Member States.

There was a reference to energy waste and environmental impact. But just at the beginning of last month, this regulation was removed from the MiCA.

As it turns out it seems really unnecessary to ban PoW. Recent study revealed that stopping BTC mining would not bring any significant improvement in the environment. Coinshares’ research has shown that the carbon emissions produced by electricity suppliers to BTC miners are negligible worldwide and represent only 0.08% of all CO2 emissions.

Thus, for example, if a global ban on BTC mining is decided in order to reduce pollution, the real impact on the environment would be almost zero.