A vote from the Senate Commerce Committee on a bill aimed at deregulating crypto mining in New Hampshire was split on Thursday, after senators reported public comment on the bill had intensified since the last debate.
After being deadlocked twice, once in advancing the bill and again in rejecting it, the committee ultimately voted 4-2 to send the bill for further review in the interim study, as it had previously reported Via New Hampshire Bulletin.
House Bill 639 will prevent municipalities from creating restrictions on crypto mining, such as rules around electricity use or noise, as well as prohibiting state and local authorities from levying taxes unique to digital assets.
The bill, if approved, would also affirm the right of individuals and businesses to mine cryptocurrencies, and call for the creation of a dedicated blockchain docket within the state’s Superior Court, where crypto-related disputes would be handled by a judge appointed by the governor.
In the first vote on the bill in May, the senators come back The proposal to the committee to improve its language and more backing. The bill is sponsored by Republican Representative Keith Ammon and is expected to come before the full Senate in 2026.
On Thursday, Senator Tara Reardon of Concord told the New Hampshire Bulletin that the proposal generated the most emails she has received for a single bill.
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Crypto mining in the US
Crypto Mining uses The power of computing to verify transactions and secure Proof-of-Work blockchains like Bitcoin, which reward miners with newly created coins in the process.
While criticizing it for this high energy consumption and environmental impact, the industry has made great strides since the early days.
A new report from the MICA Crypto Alliance and Data Firm Nodiens found that coal’s share of bitcoin mining will fall from 63% in 2011 to 20% in 2024. During the same period, the Use of renewable energy Mining continued to grow, increasing by an average of 5.8% annually.
However, some US states are trying to offset energy consumption with state taxes. On October 2, New York state senator Liz Krueger A bill was introduced to impose a tiered excise tax on the energy used by crypto mining operations.
The proposal would exempt miners who consume up to 2.25 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually, while users between 2.26 million and 5 million kWh would face a 2-cent tax per kWh.
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