The crypto industry is ready to partner with NY, will it be left out in the cold?

By John Olsen

Dear it’s cold outside.

As we enter the hottest months of the year here in Upstate New York, winter has come for the blockchain and crypto industry. In a bear market, things may look dark, but there will come a spring at some point, and those who show up will be stronger than ever and prepared to offer new opportunities through the ever-growing applications of blockchain technology. In New York, however, these opportunities will disappear in the summer sun if legislation imposing a two-year ban on some form of mining of cryptocurrencies is passed.

Supporters of the ban will call it a break, a break, a chance to study the impact of mining on the environment. And two years may seem like a short time frame, but for this lightning-fast industry, it’s a lifetime. And it is certainly more than enough time for miners and their investors to look elsewhere to take their operations. That’s the perspective I want to share my experience of engaging with members of the blockchain community just a few weeks ago in Austin, TX at Consensus, the largest blockchain conference and festival in the world. What I heard over several days in 100+ degree Texas heat cooled me more than the crypto winter industry would go into days after the festival was over.

As I spoke with developers, investors, creators, miners, executives, and others, it became clear to me that New York’s approach to crypto is an outsider. Whether they supported crypto-mining, were interested in New York or had a general knowledge of the legislative process, almost everyone agreed that a first in the country, cryptospecific moratorium focusing on energy use was a unique heavy-handed message to the industry. To the many investors, entrepreneurs, and executives who were familiar with New York’s legislative process and the broad outlines of the case, they indicated that just the introduction of the bill was enough to reconsider their business in New York. Shockingly, some have already ignored the state completely when considering where to establish their businesses, precisely because of the state’s regulatory and legislative approach, including the seven-year-old Bitlicense and now, with policies like the anti-mining bill. To put it mildly: I was extremely discouraged to hear so many groundbreaking entrepreneurs dismiss New York and look elsewhere for investment and employment.

As a lifelong citizen of New York, and someone who has repeatedly seen from the professional sidelines while politics sets up almost insurmountable barriers to entry for all kinds of new and innovative industries that can provide significant job growth, economic development and revenue to the state, it was a little disappointing déjà vu down in Texas. There is no better recent example of an anti-growth perspective than watching 25,000 six-digit jobs disappear with Amazon’s withdrawal from New York City as the chosen location for the new headquarters just a few years ago. And once again, the potential for progress is being stopped in the name of environmental justice, which to a small extent, if any, affects the serious issues of environmental management and clean power generation that are so intrusive.

Despite the challenges facing the crypto industry, I remain hopeful for its future growth in New York. For the first time in a hundred years, the governor of New York is coming from the state, right where the crypto industry is trying to increase its footprint and hire hundreds of engineers, technicians, electrical workers and developers. It is also upstate that questions about broader economic development and the future of the pure electricity grid are so urgent. The crypto industry is a clear partner to help the state meet these challenges.

But to fulfill its potential, the crypto industry needs a very simple thing: the message that it is welcome here. That it is a way of cooperating with the state instead of dedicating resources to combating unfavorable policies and misinformation about how it works and what it creates. That there are other challenges the industry faces that must be addressed. All this can be achieved with a stroke of the pen. So I urge Governor Hochul to veto the mining bill and sign the Labor Act. And I hope others will too.

From one upstater to another, it’s time to put politics aside and rule for the whole of New York.

John Olsen is the New York State Lead for the Blockchain Association and a lifelong resident of Albany County, where he has been a government liaison for nearly two decades.

The Blockchain Association is the collective voice of the cryptocurrency industry. Our members include the sector’s leading investors, companies, projects and protocols, who work together to support a forward-looking, pro-innovation national policy and regulatory framework for the crypto-economy. Find us at theblockchainassociation.org. Follow us @BlockchainAssn.

The future of cryptocurrency in New York is in the hands of Governor Kathy Hochul after lawmakers passed two seemingly conflicting bills on Friday. June 2022. We have teamed up with locally grown Foundry Digital to address this pressing issue and the potential impact on WNY.

Read more: “The future of NY’s crypto industry is in Gov Hochul’s hands“.

Foundry was established to meet the institutional demand for better access to capital, efficiency and transparency in the digital currency mining and staking industry. As a Digital Currency Group company, Foundry uses unique institutional expertise, capital and market intelligence to provide North American bitcoin miners and global manufacturers with the resources to build, maintain and secure decentralized networks. Foundry gives miners the tools they need to build tomorrow’s decentralized infrastructure. We are protocol analysts and seek to support like-minded blockchain entrepreneurs who share our mission to advance the industry.

Click to Email Gov Hochul the message below.

Email: [email protected]

Dear Governor Hochul,

I live in New York as a STRONG OPPOSITION to the Proof of Work Bill for Digital Mining Moratorium. I believe that blockchain and cryptocurrency mining are important new technologies for the third generation of the internet. New York missed out on the second generation of the Internet, as all jobs and tax revenue went to places like California that adopted the technology early on. New York now has a chance to bring jobs, financial inclusion and renewable energy production to New York through this new technology. I urge you to veto this bill and embrace the Crypto Task Force Study Bill so that we can learn how we promote this new technology to improve NY while understanding its environmental implications. It would be wise to study this issue before we alienate the entire crypto industry through a general ban, especially since President Biden and California are also studying this issue and not banning the technology.

Thank you for your consideration.

Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash