To the Editor,

From steel to silicon, the Northern Panhandle is once again at a crossroads. With the Trump administration’s Digital Assets Report setting the tone for national crypto and AI policy, West Virginia’s energy-rich regions have a historic chance to lead.

Here in the Ohio River Valley, we’ve got the raw materials for a digital comeback: Underutilized substations, legacy industrial zones and a workforce built on resilience. As the federal government signals support for blockchain, Bitcoin mining and decentralized infrastructure, we must act — not later, but now.

Fortunately, our state has already taken steps to get ahead. West Virginia has passed:

• A legal definition of cryptocurrency (SB 1464);

• The West Virginia Fintech Regulatory Sandbox Program (HB 4621); and

• The Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, which ensures that estate managers can legally handle digital assets like Bitcoin.

These laws aren’t just symbolic. They form the backbone of a new economy — one that works for rural, working-class regions like ours.

And the leadership doesn’t stop there. Gov. Patrick Morrisey’s Power Generation and Consumption Act (HB 2014) empowers communities to generate and manage their own electricity. That means towns like Weirton, Follansbee and Moundsville can host AI training hubs, modular data centers and Bitcoin mining operations — all while keeping energy profits local.

Nationally, our federal delegation is doing its part.

Sen. Jim Justice, recently given a strongly supportive rating by Stand With Crypto, has emerged as a champion for digital innovation, speaking at the Bitcoin Policy Summit in Washington, D.C., and the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas. Sen. Shelley Capito and U.S. Reps. Riley Moore and Carol Miller have all been identified as crypto-supportive leaders working to position West Virginia at the center of blockchain policy.

Locally, we must build on this momentum. State Route 2 should become a digital infrastructure corridor, linking substation-fed industrial properties to new investments in AI, blockchain and edge computing.

It’s time to launch regional pilots for:

• Decentralized wireless networks;

• Clean crypto mining using stranded energy;

• Workforce upskilling at West Virginia Northern Community College and West Liberty University; and

• Tokenized environmental data monitoring in partnership with energy producers.

This isn’t science fiction — it’s already happening in places like Texas and Kentucky. If we don’t move fast, we risk being left behind again. But with vision, grit and smart policy, the Northern Panhandle can be the gateway to West Virginia’s digital future.

Shekinah Apedo

Weirton