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Town of Massena extends crypto mining moratorium through July 31

Posted 1/6/23

BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI North Country This Week MASSENA — The Massena Town Board once again extended the town’s crypto mining moratorium, this time until July 31. The move came during the town …

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Town of Massena extends crypto mining moratorium through July 31

Posted

BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — The Massena Town Board once again extended the town’s crypto mining moratorium, this time until July 31.

The move came during the town board’s Jan. 3 organizational meeting and followed a public hearing period that yielded just two written comments from the public.

One of the letters, addressed to Town Supervisor Sue Bellor, came from a crypto operation that went unnamed.

In the letter, Bellor said the organization, which is in the industrial zone, wished to expand its infrastructure and capacity. The organization asked to have an exclusion built into the moratorium that would allow them to continue to expand within the given plan that was already approved by the town planning board.

Bellor said the potential to allow them to expand was something to consider.

Board Member Debra Willer said she also received an email from an individual who was in favor of extending the moratorium.

The vote to extend it was unanimous, 5-0, and now runs until July 31.

If town officials do decide to lift the moratorium before July 31, they can do so, according to Town Attorney Eric Gustafson.

The moratorium was first brought up in July 2018 after residents expressed concerns that regulations did not adequately address crypto operations within the town.

Town officials quickly took action soon after and have continued to extend the moratorium over the last few years.

State officials have also taken action, implementing a two-year statewide moratorium just seven weeks ago. The moratorium in place at the state level is for proof-of-work cryptocurrency mining and seeks to address some of the environmental concerns that lead many to argue against such operations.

Many of the operations that have come through Massena are themselves proof-of-work operations that use a blockchain-based algorithm to mine for crypto currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.