New York’s ban on bitcoin mining is set to expire, just in time for a new wave of crypto fever
As bitcoin keeps breaking new record highs, companies are hoping to reopen facilities and cash in on the rally.
New York is poised to become a whole lot friendlier to bitcoin miners.
The state’s pause on permitting new crypto-mining operations is set to expire late next week on November 22. That’s the two-year anniversary of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signing into law a moratorium on air-permit issuances and renewals for mining operations that run on carbon-based power sources.
The law, which was hailed as a win by environmentalists and opposed by the crypto industry, was relatively narrow in scope. It targeted proof-of-work mining using fossil-fuel-based power plants, not those using renewable sources of energy. Proof of work, a consensus mechanism used to verify bitcoin transactions, is more energy intensive than ethereum proof of stake.
The 2022 law also mandated that the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) produce a study on the environmental impacts of crypto mining. That study — which has yet to be published — will likely play a key role in how friendly New York will be to crypto miners going forward.
The final environmental-impact statement was due after closing the public comment and hearing period, “no later than one year after the effective date” of the law’s enactment.
“My approach to governing is [to] get all the facts first, before making declarations, and so let me look at the results of the study,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said during an informal press conference on Tuesday in Albany after a reporter asked how her administration would handle crypto mining after the law’s expiration.
When asked if she had discussed the delay of the study with the DEC, Gov. Hochul said she’d be “happy to ask them the status.”
Meanwhile, Greenidge Generation Holdings, a crypto mining and data-center hosting operator with facilities in New York, is expecting a ruling this week on its lawsuit challenging the DEC’s order to shut down its Dresden power plant on New York’s Seneca Lake.
Greenidge’s existing facilities were grandfathered in when the New York moratorium was enacted, but the DEC denied the environmental permits Greenidge needed, saying the emissions the company produced were inconsistent with the state’s 2019 climate law.
Crystal Kim is a New York-based reporter. She has covered crypto, markets, and investing for Barron's, Bloomberg, and Axios.
