New York Introduces Anti-Bitcoin Mining Bill

A New York State Senator just introduced a bill to impose new taxes on Bitcoin mining firms. If passed, it would levy progressive taxes, putting the highest obligations upon the largest businesses.

The bill focuses on two issues: broader climate goals and consumer electricity prices. Taxes collected from miners would go to subsidize ordinary citizens’ utility bills.

New York’s Bitcoin Mining Bill

Although NYC’s crypto enthusiasts are cautiously optimistic about Zohran Mamdani’s approach to the industry, the state legislature is a completely different animal. It has enacted hostile laws before, and may do so again.

Today, policy watchdogs discovered a bill in the New York State Senate that would impose new taxes on Bitcoin mining:

This bill is theoretically aimed at all proof-of-work tokens. Realistically speaking, though, it concerns Bitcoin mining firms across New York State.

If passed, the bill would levy a progressive tax on these companies; whereas the smallest firms would be exempt, the largest could pay a rate more than double that of their competitors.

Environmental Concerns Flare Up

The text of the bill is only three pages long, more concerned about practical policy frameworks than anything else.

Luckily, however, Liz Kreuger, the State Senator who introduced the bill, described her rationale for this move in a press release:

“Cryptocurrency miners provide very little benefit to New York State or to the communities where they are located, but create significant costs and burdens on ratepayers, the electric grid, the local environment, and our shared climate. This bill will ensure that the costs of those negative impacts will no longer be foisted on everyone else,” she claimed.

In recent months, the environmental impact of AI data centers has taken a lot more attention than crypto mining, but it’s still a latent concern.

Earlier this week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse warned of a “reckoning” from the industry’s electricity usage and carbon emissions. Evidently, there are still several politicians willing to address this issue.

To be clear, much of the bill’s language centers around consumers’ rational self-interest, rather than a broader fight for climate goals.

Kreuger hammered on ordinary New Yorkers’ electricity bills, and this bill will direct mining taxes towards energy affordability programs.

So, does this Bitcoin mining bill have any chance of becoming New York State law? So far, it’s difficult to be sure.

Krueger only has one co-sponsor for the Senate bill, but she’s currently the Chair of that house’s Finance Committee. This influential role could give her the push to bring this effort through the first few barriers.

If it passes, though, such a law could have big implications. Last month, a Bitcoin mining firm and Google completed a $3.7 billion deal to construct data centers in New York. Regulatory hostility could set these plans back significantly.

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