© Reuters.
Investing.com – It wasn’t too long ago that the European Parliament was considering banning . New York State seems to have taken matters into its own hands. On Friday morning, a bill was passed to ban bitcoin mining if the energy needed for this activity is produced from fossil fuels. The bill is now on the desk of Governor Kathy Hochul, who will ultimately decide whether the ban goes into effect, as CNBC reported.
Operators of BTC mining farms in New York will then be prohibited by law from continuing to develop their businesses, while existing permits will not be renewed. The only exception is that companies must prove that they source their electricity from 100% renewable energy.
Founder and President of the Chamber of Digital Commerce, Perianne Boring, said:
“This is a significant setback for the state and will affect its future as a leading technology center and global financial services provider. more difficult access to financial services for the Empire State’s many underserved populations.”
For bitcoin, the entry into force of the law could have serious consequences. Industry experts fear a sort of domino effect if other US states follow suit. The United States is still home to 38 percent of the bitcoin mining activity in the world.
SVP of Mining Strategy at Foundry, Kevin Zhang, explains:
“Other blue states often follow New York’s example, and that would provide them with an easy model to emulate.
The network will certainly remain intact – it survived a Chinese attack last summer – but the impact on future scaling and development of the technology is huge.”
By Marco Oehrl