Missoula County in Montana, USA, passed a resolution on mining cryptocurrency, local media Missoulyan said on April 5.
According to the report, the commission authorized by the Missoula district unanimously voted to introduce new rules for local operations on the extraction of cryptocurrency. As reported last month, when these rules were first proposed, the draft rules stated that they were aimed at “protecting the health, safety, morality and general welfare of the people in the district”.
The focus of the new law appears to be on the possible effects of mining cryptocurrency on global warming and electronic waste. In addition, from now on, crypto miners in the district will be able to start their activities only in areas of light and heavy industry, and only after they are considered and approved as conditional use.
Miners will also be required to provide evidence that all e-waste generated will be processed by a licensed waste management company from the Environmental Quality Department. Another new rule established in the district requires miners to use only renewable energy.
Finally, existing mining operations that do not meet the requirements will be allowed to continue, but will not be allowed to expand if they do not comply with the new rules. The draft states that the rules will come into force from April 4, 2019 until April 3, 2020.
The Missoulian notes that county officials claim that mining company Hyperblock currently consumes as much electricity as a third of all homes in the county, and plans to triple electricity consumption.
Hyperblock is reportedly buying hydroelectricity to fuel its efforts, but members of the commission reportedly claim that it displaces other potential renewable energy buyers. District Commissioner Dave Stromaier allegedly commented:
“As far as I can tell, cryptocurrency uses exponentially more energy; this is a grotesque amount of energy, and we must take steps to resolve it. […] We need to use new renewable energy if we are going to solve the problem of climate change. ”
Dan Stivers, Hyperblock manager, protects the company, stating that it has always used only renewable energy sources and could use the electricity generated by burning coal because it was cheaper. Stivers also claims that Hyperblock uses a licensed processor to recycle its electronic waste, adding:
“Somehow this is not enough. This is a viable business model, and if we had not become anchor tenants, there would have been no Bonner plant, as we see it today. ”
According to Missoulian, the company's lawyer hinted that in the future he could file a lawsuit regarding regulation.
The Secretary of the Hong Kong Financial Services and Treasury said that cryptocurrency mining operations are governed by local trade laws.
