New York Governor Cuomo signs PoW mining ban

On November 22nd, the proof-of-work (PoW) mining moratorium was signed into law by New York Governor Kathy Hochul, making New York the first state in the United States to prohibit any proof-of-work crypto mining activities for a period of two years.

The PoW mining ban will not only prevent the establishment of new mining operations, but it will also prevent the renewal of permits for existing mining companies that are already inside the state.

Any new PoW mining enterprise that wanted to be started in the state had to employ entirely renewable energy sources in order to do so.

In April of this year, the measure concerning PoW mining was first passed with the approval of the state assembly, and then it was passed with the approval of the state senate in June.

As a result of pressure from lobbyists and in order for the state to reach its objectives for carbon emissions, Governor Huchkul was ultimately persuaded to sign the measure into law.

PoW mining is the method that the majority of miners for Bitcoin and a few other cryptocurrencies utilize to reach consensus.

When it comes to verifying the legitimacy of a transaction on a blockchain, this approach is regarded as among the most secure and decentralized there is.

Despite this, the technique has been tainted by disputes on the huge amount of energy that it requires.

The United States of America is now in first place on the list of shares of bitcoin mining hash rate by nation. The United States contributes 37.8% of the total hash rate that is generated by the bitcoin network. The prohibition on mining PoW for the next two years might prove to be expensive and perhaps set off a domino effect that would lead other governments to adopt a similar strategy.

The proof-of-work (PoW) mining FUD is not new and has been debunked numerous times; however, there has been a significant lobbying effort over the past year, particularly from the proponents of proof-of-stake (PoS) mining. 

On the other hand, legislators have conveniently ignored study findings suggesting a large portion of the energy used for bitcoin mining originates from renewable sources.

In the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation that was being considered in Europe, cryptocurrency authorities have advocated a ban on PoW mining.