Crypto
Arkansas lawmakers approve new restrictions on cryptocurrency mines after backlash over ‘23 law
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers on Wednesday gave final approval to new restrictions on cryptocurrency mining operations after facing backlash for limiting local governments’ ability to regulate them last year.
The majority-Republican House overwhelmingly approved the Senate-backed measures, sending them to GOP Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ desk. The bills were among the few non-budget issues on the agenda for a legislative session lawmakers expect to wrap up Thursday.
The bills are intended to address complaints about a law passed last year on cryptocurrency mines, which are data centers requiring large amounts of computing power and electricity. Local officials and residents who live near the operations complained that last year’s law interfered with addressing complaints about the mines’ noise and impact on the community.
The measures require the facilities to apply noise-reduction techniques, and requires crypto mining businesses to get a permit from the state to operate. It also removes portions of the 2023 law that limited local governments’ ability to enact measures regulating the sound decibels generated by the facilities.
“Let’s do what we can to help those who have been impacted in a negative way, and work for better solutions,” Republican Rep. Rick McClure said before the vote.
Sponsors of the measure have described the bills as a stop-gap until lawmakers return for next year’s regular session and take up more comprehensive changes.
The legislation also prohibits businesses and individuals from several countries, including China, from owning crypto mining operations in the state.
Democratic Rep. Andrew Collins, who voted against both bills, said he was concerned about the way that limit was worded and the impact it could have on foreign investment.
“We’re casting a net that is both too wide and too narrow,” Collins said during a committee hearing on the bills Tuesday. “It’s going to catch people up who are totally innocent, and it’s going to miss a lot of people who are either home-grown or are from countries not on this list.”
Lawmakers passed the legislation as the House and Senate gave initial approval to bills detailing the state’s $6.3 billion budget for the coming year. Both chambers are expected to give final approval to that legislation Thursday.
Sanders plans to sign the crypto mining bills into law, her office said.
Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Crypto
Westlake police say cryptocurrency scam cost woman over $5,000
WESTLAKE, Ohio – A convenience store clerk at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 26 alerted a police dispatcher that a female customer was feeding large amounts of cash into a cryptocurrency ATM at the store on Center Ridge Road at Dover Center Road.
The clerk said the customer would not believe the clerk’s warning that she was being scammed.
Officers arrived to find the 71-year-old still “anxiously depositing” cash into the machine. Officers told her to stop, but she did not believe the uniformed men. The officers talked to her for several minutes before she finally believed that there was an issue. She was still on the phone with the scammer at the time.
The incident started that morning when the victim received a pop-up message on her home computer instructing her to call a provided support phone number due to a supposed issue with the computer’s operating system. She called the number and was connected to a man who claimed he was a representative from Apple, according to a police department press release.
The man talked her into allowing him remote access to her computer while he asked for her bank information. The scammer talked the victim into believing that there was a problem with her accounts, and she was at risk of losing $18,000 in connection with pornographic websites out of China or Mexico.
She was connected to a fake fraud department for her bank, and another scammer persuaded her to go to a bank and withdraw as much cash as they would allow. The scammer even told her to give the teller a story about needing cash to buy a car. The perpetrator kept the woman on the phone as she took out cash and traveled to the crypto ATM. The victim had deposited approximately $5,500 before officers persuaded her to stop. The Westlake Detective Bureau is attempting to recover the lost funds.
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Read more from the West Shore Sun.
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