EU urged to ban Proof-of-Work mining.

EU regulators should ban Bitcoin mining and other cryptocurrencies using the Proof-of-Work algorithm because of its energy intensity. The FT reported that Erik Thedéen, vice-chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), said.

In his view, without regulatory intervention, an increasing share of green electricity will be directed toward mining digital assets rather than replacing carbon-based energy sources.

He noted that in his native Sweden, Bitcoin mining has already become a ‘national problem’.

“The solution is to ban Proof-of-Work. The Proof-of-Stake algorithm has a significantly lower energy footprint,” said Thedéen.

In Sweden he heads the Financial Supervisory Authority. The ESMA post was appointed to Thedéen in December 2021.

In November, the official, together with Bjorn Raizinger, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, called for banning energy-intensive mining within the European Union.

“There are other mining methods that can also be used for Bitcoin and Ethereum, which, according to estimates, reduce energy consumption by 99.95% while maintaining functionality,” they stressed in a statement.

In the Norwegian government, officials stated that there could be support for the Swedish state agencies’ initiative. They also cited “unjustified electricity costs”.

In July 2021, France’s regulator proposed to grant ESMA powers to oversee the crypto industry.

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