The Mayor of New York city, Eric Adams said that he intends to request Governor Kathy Hochul to veto the crypto mining bill due to the economic damage it will cause the state’s people.
The bill effectively bans crypto mining in the state for the next two years.
In a recent interview, the Mayor said, “I’m going to ask the governor to consider vetoing the bill that is going to get in the way of cryptocurrency upstate.”
He says that he supports Bitcoin miners and that we can’t “continue to put barriers in place” for them as they bolster the state’s economy with the “billions of dollars that are spent on cryptocurrency” in the state.
Mayor Adams instead suggested giving the state’s miners deadlines to reduce their emissions by specific dates. “Give us a goal, not bans,” he said.
The Mayor himself is a prominent crypto advocate who tweeted in November of last year that he wants to be paid in Bitcoin.
The bill in question bans some types of crypto mining that depend upon carbon-based fuel. The members of the New York State Senate passed the bill and voted 36-27 in favor of the bill just a few days ago.
The original sponsor of the bill Assembleyperson Anne Kelles has said that using fossil fuel-burning power plants for crypto mining could result in the state not achieving the goal of reducing all carbon emissions by 85% by 2050.
The fate of the bill now lies in the hands of Governor Kathy Hochul.
