New York seeks to ban bitcoin mining over power consumption

Introduced on Monday, bill S6486 seeks to put a moratorium on the operation of cryptocurrency mining centers unless they undergo a full environmental impact statement review.

As part of its Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, the state has called for a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over 1990 levels by 2030.

In addition to a cumulative impact assessment on greenhouse gas emissions, it would also include a review of any impacts on water or air quality, or wildlife.

Its consensus algorithm relies on a process called proof of work, in which miners compete for the chance to include transactions in a block on the chain.

According to the Bitcoin Energy Consumption Index, it takes 1138 kWh of energy to process a single bitcoin transaction at the time of writing, which equates to the energy required to run a single US household for 39 days.

While the core bitcoin developers seem committed to proof of work, competing network Ethereum, which offers additional functionality, is preparing to transition to an alternative proof-of-stake mechanism.

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