Buncombe County in North Carolina is considering a temporary one-year ban on cryptocurrency mining, according to a report from. Citizen Times April 5th.
Buncombe County Proposes Moratorium
According to the report, the Buncombe County Commission advanced a one-year moratorium on cryptocurrency mining at its April 4 meeting. Hearings will be held on May 2nd, and the moratorium will begin on that date if approved.
Elsewhere, ABC WLOS 13 released documents believed to have been prepared by county officials. The document indicates that the agency intends to define cryptocurrency mining as a specific land use, distinguishing cryptocurrency mining from other data center applications.
The proposed ban does not apply to single-device mining, but it does apply to server farms. It is defined as a mining operation involving three or more computers.
This ban is motivated by various negative effects of cryptocurrency mining, including high power consumption, environmental damage, e-waste and noise pollution.
The ban is expected to last for a year, ending May 1, 2024.
Other regions are also concerned about mining
North Carolina has been the subject of various other mining-related topics in the news over the past few months. These stories primarily concern noise complaints in Cherokee County, about 100 miles from Buncombe County.
Cherokee County does not have its own ban, but certain groups, including the Sierra Club, have petitioned the county to ban the practice.
Outside of North Carolina, various jurisdictions impose their own restrictions on cryptocurrency mining. British Columbia temporarily banned cryptocurrency mining in December 2022 following lawsuits from many other Canadian provinces.
New York has also moved forward with a time-limited ban on certain cryptocurrency mining operations in the summer of 2022. This ban was finally enacted a few months later in November.
An article about North Carolina County moving ahead with a temporary ban on cryptocurrency mining first appeared on CryptoSlate.
