Bitcoin miner Blockfusion has been ordered to shut down its operations due to local area zoning code violations.

Crypto mining company Bit Digital hosts 17% of its machines at Blockfusion’s Niagara Falls mining facility. On Tuesday, Bit Digital said it received a cease and desist order from the city of Niagara Falls in New York over issues related to mining activities at the facility.

The order requires Blockfusion to stop all cryptocurrency mining or related operations at the facility until it complies with the city’s zoning ordinance (laws).

Bit Digital said it received the notice just four days after an industry moratorium was lifted on September 30. The company said it is preparing applications for new permits, which can take several months to process.

The City of Niagara Falls is the latest community to voice their frustrations over crypto mining facilities. In July, residents raised concerns that cryptocurrency mining facilities have been disrupting their daily lives in terms of noise disturbance and issues associated with quality of life and the environment, and demanded that city leaders take action. measures.

The town is currently home to two different mining facilities, three miles apart. There is one mining facility on Buffalo Avenue owned by the US Bitcoin Corporation, while the other is located on Frontier Avenue, which was purchased by the Blockfusion company in 2019.

In December 2021, after complaints began to pile up, the city placed a 180-day moratorium on Bitcoin operations while it tried to resolve ordinances, community complaints, and zoning issues. That moratorium was recently extended and expired on September 30.

The state of New York recently passed a similar measure. In June, the state passed a bill that seeks to ban Bitcoin mining operations that are powered by carbon-based energy sources. The New York bill calls for a two-year moratorium on certain cryptocurrency mining operations that use proof-of-work consensus mechanisms to validate blockchain transactions.

The bill is now on the desk of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who could sign it into law or veto it. If the governor signs the bill, New York would become the first state in the country to ban blockchain technology infrastructure.

According to industry watchers, if the bill becomes law, it could have a ripple effect in the US, which is currently at the forefront of the global crypto mining industry and accounts for 38% of miners. of the world.

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