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Montana Lawmakers Require Crypto Miners to Use Clean Energy

By | April 9, 2019

The county of Missoula, Montana has adopted a new crypto mining policy, reported by a local media outlet on April 5.

According to the document, the county of Missoula has agreed to set new regulations for local cryptocurrency mining operations, as the county is committed to using 100% clean energy by 2030. From now on, all Montana crypto miners will have to use renewable energies to run their business.

Significantly, miners in the county will have to provide authentication related to electronic waste produced, reviewed and managed by a licensed firm. Besides, they will also need to get approval from the county to operate in industrial districts.

The Missoulian notes that the mining company named Hyperblock currently uses as much electricity as one-third of all homes in the county. At the same time, the firm plans to triple its energy usage in the near future.

“Near as I can tell cryptocurrency is using exponentially more energy, it’s a grotesque amount of energy and we’ve got to take steps to address it. […] We’ve got to utilize new renewables if we’re going to address climate change,” said County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier.

However, Hyperblock manager Dan Stivers defends the company by stating that they weren’t asked to discuss a solution and the new regulations might lead to job losses. Stivers also claims that Hyperblock uses a licensed recycler to deal with its electronic waste, adding:

“Somehow none of that’s enough. It is a viable business model and if we had not moved in as anchor tenants, there would be no Bonner mill as we see it today.”

Currently, Missoula is the first Monata city and one of the 110 cities across the U.S. to commit to powering both the city and the county with 100% clean energy. The draft stated that the new rules will be effective from April 4, 2019, until one year later.

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