Mississippi State Senate Passes Bill to Protect Crypto Miners

The Mississippi Digital Asset Mining Act was approved by the state senate on February 8, 2019, bringing the state of Mississippi, which is located in the United States, one step closer to safeguarding the rights of cryptocurrency miners. There is a parallel measure that is now being deliberated upon in the house of representatives of the state.

Home mining of digital assets and the operation of mining firms in areas designated for industrial use are both made lawful by a measure proposed in the state Senate and sponsored by State Senator Josh Harkins. The state of Mississippi, which has among of the cheapest rates for residential power in the United States, is already home to cryptocurrency miners. The measure, on the other hand, said that "Digital asset mining has frequently met regulatory obstacles at the state and municipal level."

In addition, the bill prohibits imposing requirements on miners that are greater than those locally applied to data centers; changing the zoning of a mining center without proper notification and an opportunity to appeal; limiting noise from home mining beyond existing limits; and limiting noise from home mining beyond existing limits. It makes it illegal for the Public Service Commission to impose discriminatory charges on mining companies and exempts home and business miners from the requirements that apply to money transmitters.

Additionally, the measure offers a legal definition of the term "virtual money" for use inside the state.

The Satoshi Action Fund has been active in Mississippi, among with other states throughout the country. During his presentation before the Mississippi Senate Finance Committee in January, the chief executive officer of the fund, Dennis Porter, brought up the possibility that cryptocurrency miners may exploit abandoned oil and gas wells as a source of electricity.

Orphan wells are mentioned in both the senate bill and the house version. In accordance with the provisions of the house bill, a state Digital Asset Mining Council would be established. During the course of the year, its members would deliberate on matters like the viability of using the wells as a source of electricity for mining operations. The Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of passing the house bill, but the measure has not yet been addressed on the house floor.

The measure proposed in Mississippi stands in stark contrast to the two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining that was approved in New York in November and subsequently signed into law.