Miners in the New York city of Plattsburgh in the U.S. are requesting that the cryptocurrency mining moratorium be lifted after less than a year of it being enforced.
Cryptocurrency mining is a bit of a contentious subject in the U.S. One the one hand, you have mining giant, Bitmain, expanding to the state of Washington and then, on the other hand, you have cities in other states, including Washington, imposing moratoriums on new mining operators.
Plattsburgh in the state of New York falls into the latter group. Live Bitcoin News previously reported that in addition to an 18-month moratorium actioned in March this year, authorities were also looking into the possibility of regulated the mining industry in the city as a way to better deal with noise pollution and other factors. While these authorities seem to be satisfied with their approach, the miners are not.
Mining Operator Has a Potential Solution
According to WAMC, pre-moratorium miners used an October meeting to discuss the possibility of lifting the ban. One of those affected, Ryan Brienza of Zafra, spoke about how the moratorium halted interest in the industry, which subsequently led to missed opportunities for the city as a whole. Brenzia was back at a recent common council meeting and presented an interesting proposal to the authorities:
My company Zafra, we are looking to place an invention that we’ve created in Plattsburgh around the city which is a box which contains the heat from these cryptomining machines and can disperse it into any building in the city. In return it would be free of charge to the city as well you would get free heat which would save the city money from cutting your electric bill and the heating bill in any of these buildings. We have investors behind us and we’re ready to do this. We’re just kind of looking for this moratorium to be ended so we’re able to move forward. It’d benefit the taxpayers and the city and this would be a first in the world for this to be demonstrated.
No Answer to Request
While not going into the details, this does appear to be a mutually satisfying solution for both parties but is completely dependent on the city lifting the moratorium. Brenzia discussed his plan with Mayor Colin Read, Councilor Rachelle Armstrong, and Councilor Peter Ensel, who seemed to be quite interested. Ensel asked, “… as far as with the moratorium being lifted at this point this device is not profitable under the current operating structure?”
While admitting that the market is not near its earlier profitability levels, Brenzia concluded that the moratorium needs to be lifted before they’ll be able to deploy the system. They should then, potentially, be able to gauge its success. However, Brenzia was left without an answer to his request of ending the ban early.
Do you think that Plattsburgh will lift the ban before the 18 months are up? Let us know in the comments below!
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