New York has passed a bill placing a Moratorium on Cryptocurrency Mining

To address environmental concerns, New York state lawmakers enacted a bill on Friday that will put a two-year moratorium on certain bitcoin mining operations.

Senate Bill S6486D, which places a moratorium on new proof-of-work carbon-based crypto mining enterprises, was passed by a vote of 36 to 27. Proof-of-work is a blockchain verification process that verifies new blocks. A computer solves complicated mathematical equations to generate a new block.

The law, which was approved by the New York Assembly in April, will now be sent to Governor Kathy Hochul for signature. Senator Kevin Parker sponsored the bill, which was initially introduced to the Senate's Environmental Conservation Committee in May 2021.

Proof-of-work authentication methods will "greatly increase the amount of energy usage in the state of New York, and impact compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act," the bill said.

Bitcoin mining has been chastised for its high energy use and negative environmental impact. According to a University of Cambridge study, bitcoin mining consumes more energy each year than countries. Still, bitcoin mining has been growing in New York, particularly upstate as power for bitcoin mining has been more affordable.