Plattsburgh NY just issued a temporary ban on Bitcoin Mining

This little piece of news was brought to my attention on a discussion board and seemed to fly under the radar for the most part. I believe this was first reported by vice, although with way news travels it’s all over the internet if you look hard enough.

As I have mentioned before, I live in NY, although not plattsburgh (or any other place you’d probably recognize unless you’ve been there yourself); so this hits kind of close to home. Anyway, the town of Plattsburgh recently passed an 18 month ban on any new Bitcoin miners.

Apparently the Bitcoin miners were consuming too much power and causing the price of electric to rise for everyone. From CoinTelegraph

Plattsburgh benefits cheap electricity provided by a hydroelectric dam located on the Saint Lawrence River. […] The biggest Bitcoin mining operation in the city used 10 percent of Plattsburgh’s 104 megawatt hour (Mwh) electricity allotment in January and February. [There have been] proposals that suggested using 20 to 30 Mwh of electricity for Bitcoin mining operations.

What do I think?

To me this is just one more reason why New York can be called the nanny state. I know that there were probably a lot of people upset about the rising energy costs, but I think that a ban on mining Bitcoin (or any other computer based process) is a slippery slope (and potentially unconstitutional, as software is supposed to be protected by the first amendment as seen here and here).

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Further Reading:
This City Just Passed the First Bitcoin Mining Ban in the US by Vice

Plattsburgh NY Introduces Temporary Ban On New Crypto Mining Operations by CoinTelegraph