Plattsburgh, New York is the first city in the U.S. to ban cryptocurrency mining

Anyone who thought about starting a cryptocurrency mining operation in the city with the cheapest electricity in the U.S. is out of luck, at least for the next year and a half. 

The city council of Plattsburgh, New York unanimously voted in favor of a 18-month moratorium on crypto-mining Thursday, Motherboard reported. 

The new law, originally proposed on March 2, affects only new, commercial mining operations; current companies that are mining in Plattsburgh will be allowed to continue to do so. 

Plattsburgh — a small city with a population of under 20,000 as of the 2010 census — has very cheap electricity due to its involvement in building the power-generating dams on the St. Lawrence river back in the 1950s. And for a cryptocurrency mining operation — an energy-intensive process used to create new crypto-coins and power large cryptocurrency networks — cheap electricity is a huge draw.  Read more...