The adoption of crypto currency legislation in Mississippi on February 8, also known as the Digital Asset Mining Act, by the state senate signals a step forward in the attempts of the state to defend the rights of crypto currency miners.
Documenting Bitcoin announced that the Mississippi Senate has approved new legislation dubbed "Right to Mine." This law provides a framework for safeguarding Bitcoin miners in the state and was given the name "Right to Mine."
Protection of the Legal Rights of Crypto Miners
The regulation states (1) that miners are not subject to discrimination when it comes to installing their crypto currency mining equipment in industrial zones.
The measure makes it illegal to charge mining corporations inflated rates for their energy use. In addition, miners will not be considered "money transmitters" under the new regulations.
The legislation proposed by State Senator Josh Harkins makes it possible to mine digital assets in one's own house and permits the establishment of mining enterprises in regions designated for industrial use.
Several bitcoin miners have already established operations in Mississippi due to the state's inexpensive power.
Despite this, the bill argued that digital mining assets have regularly run into legislative roadblocks at the state and local levels.
In addition, the measure prohibits the regulation of noise from home mining beyond the limitations already in place, the imposition of requirements on miners that are more than those locally applied to data centers, and the re-zoning of a mining center without sensible disclosure and an opportunity to appeal.
Increased levels of interest in cryptocurrency
Even though the measure was successfully passed, more work has to be done, according to Dennis Porter, the founder of the Satoshi Action Fund.
The most recent action taken by Mississippi exemplifies the rising interest of states around the United States in embracing Bitcoin and implementing it into their energy networks. This desire was demonstrated by the fact that Mississippi took this action.
This comes at a time when the United States is ramping up its efforts to govern the cryptocurrency industry, with Bitcoin mining taking center stage in the discussion.
The bill in Mississippi starkly contrasts New York's two-year ban on cryptocurrency mining, which was adopted in November and subsequently signed into law.
Porter brought up the idea of cryptocurrency miners utilizing defunct oil and gas wells as a potential source of electricity at a meeting of the Mississippi Senate Finance Committee in January.
Adding blocks to a blockchain using the computing capacity of a computer, known as hashing, consumes a significant amount of energy. It's as easy as this: the more cryptos mined, the more hashing that has to take place.
China's mining restrictions (2) have hastened the migration of Bitcoin miners to other countries, particularly the United States. It has been reported that two mining pools in the United States, Foundry and Antpool, control more than half of the global hash rate.
According to information provided by Find Energy, Mississippi has energy prices around 16% cheaper than the average cost for the rest of the country. As a result, Mississippi is ranked as the 16th most inexpensive state in the United States.
If the measure were to be approved by the legislators in Mississippi and then signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves, it would go into effect on July 1 of this year. Regarding mining crypto assets in the United States, this measure is among the more favorable ones.
