New York Senate votes for bitcoin mining moratorium

The New York State Senate has passed a bill establishing a moratorium on cryptocurrency mining using carbon-based power sources. The bill, which was passed by the state Assembly last month, now makes its way to Governor Kathy Hochul, who will either sign it into law or veto it. The bill calls for a two year moratorium on crypto mining operations that use proof-of-work authentication methods to validate blockchain transactions. The energy intensive proof-of-work mining is used by bitcoin and ether, although the latter is preparing a switch to the greener proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. During the moratorium, New York will conduct a study on the potential environmental impacts of proof-of-work mining. According to the New York Times, Hochul recently received a $40,000 donation from the boss of a firm that operates a former aluminium plant that is now used for crypto mining. In March, European Parliament members voted against a provision in the Markets in Crypto Assets framework that would have meant a ban on proof-of-work mining.