The passage of Mississippi’s crypto framework, or Digital Asset Mining Act, by the state senate on February 8 is a step forward in the state’s efforts to protect the rights of cryptocurrency miners.
On February 9, Bitcoin Documentation tweeted that the Mississippi Senate has passed a new law titled “Mine Rights” that offers a framework to protect Bitcoin miners in the state.
Currently, the state house of representatives is reviewing related bills.
Crypto Miners Rights Protected
According to the law, miners are allowed to install crypto mining equipment in industrial zones without discrimination.
The bill prohibits charging mining companies unfair energy costs. In addition, miners will not be considered “money transmitters.”
The size of Sen. Josh Harkins state legalizes the mining of digital assets in front of and operations of mining companies in areas classified for industrial purposes.
Mississippi, which has some of the lowest electricity costs in the country, has become home to cryptocurrency miners.
Image: Watcher Guru
However, the bill emphasizes that digital asset mining often faces legislative hurdles at the state and local levels.
Furthermore, the measure prohibits managing interference from residential mining beyond existing limits, imposing requirements for miners beyond those applied locally in data centers, or rezoning mining centers without sufficient disclosure and opportunity to appeal.
Growing Interest in Crypto
The founder of the Satoshi Action Fund, Dennis Porter, noted that even though the bill was passed, there is still a lot of work to do.
The latest measure taken by Mississippi reflects the interest of states across the United States to adopt Bitcoin and integrate it into their power grid.
This comes as the US fast-tracks efforts to regulate the crypto sector, with Bitcoin mining at the forefront of the narrative.
Mississippi’s measure contrasts with New York’s two-year crypto mining ban, approved in November and signed into law.
At a January conference of the Mississippi Senate Finance Committee, Porter discussed the possibility of crypto miners using abandoned oil and gas wells as resources.
Hashing, the process of using computer computing power to add blocks to the blockchain, is energy-intensive. It’s as simple as this: the more hashing is done, the more cryptos are mined.
BTC total market cap at $418 billion on the weekend chart | Chart: TradingView.com
Meanwhile, China’s mining restrictions have accelerated the clustering of Bitcoin miners in the United States. According to reports, two US mining pools, Foundry and Antpool, control more than half of the world’s hash rate.
Based on data from Find Energy, Mississippi’s electricity rates are about 16% lower than the national average, ranking it as the 16th most affordable state in the US.
If passed by Mississippi lawmakers and signed into law by Governor Tate Reeves, the bill would take effect on July 1. This is one of the better bills on crypto asset mining in the US.
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