New York bitcoin miners rejoice, anti-mining bill won’t push through 

The New York Senate has recently passed a bill to implement a temporary ban on providing merits to bitcoin mining facilities that use carbon-based fuels. 

But the bill has faced a stumbling block when the New York Assembly failed to make vote for its official version of the bill. 

As a consequence, the Assembly must start again at the beginning of the process during the next two-year legislative session. 

Environmental issues

The bill aims to significantly decrease the impact of fossil fuel-powered bitcoin mining operations on the environment. 

Some analysts point out that the increasing popularity of bitcoin mining can potentially make way for the surge of green energy usage. 

This is possible since crypto mining farms cannot only be powered by fossil fuels but also by clean energy such as solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal. 

With mounting pressures from environmental advocates and legislators, a lot of mining farms are forced to comply rather than go out of business. 

Recently, Greenidge Generation, a New York-based gas-powered crypto-farm, made a pledge to decrease its carbon footprints. 

Allocation of computing power for security

Mining farms are also required to follow what lawmakers call “proof-of-work consensus methods.” 

It basically means that facilities using a decentralized blockchain network are required to allot a chunk of their computing power to secure their systems from cyber-attacks. 

Counterproductive rebooting

Lawmakers are also concerned about the “habits” of other bitcoin mining farms that set up their facilities on closed fossil fuel plants. 

According to these mining farm owners, these facilities were intentionally shut down because of an improved transmission capacity and reduced energy demand.

Lawmakers expressed their fears that rebooting these plants could potentially cause a major counterproductive outcome. 

Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube 

Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/new-york-bitcoin-miners-rejoice-anti-mining-bill-wont-push-through/