An upstate assemblywoman is battling bitcoin advocates as she defends a measure that would impose a two-year embargo on crypto mining in New York.

An upstate assemblywoman is battling bitcoin advocates as she defends a measure that would impose a two-year embargo on crypto mining in New York. Assemblywoman Anna Kelles (D-Ithaca) argued on social media over the aim of a bill that would allow the state time to examine the environmental implications of the contentious crypto mining process "My measure does not prohibit the use of cryptocurrency." "It's not even a mining prohibition," Kelles explained. "It's a two-year embargo on bitcoin mining activities at fossil-fuel power facilities." Cryptocurrency mining, or Bitcoin mining, consumes enormous amounts of energy as computers solve complicated math problems and authenticate digital currency transactions. Critics of the bill, which passed the Assembly's Ways and Means Committee on Monday, fear that it would force tech companies out of New York and transfer employment abroad. Opponents, according to Kelles, are deliberately mis...