Norway Considers Restricting Bitcoin Mining

The Norwegian government will consider by autumn the possibility of banning the establishment of new cryptocurrency mining enterprises using energy-intensive algorithms like Proof-of-Work (PoW).

According to the head of the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, Karianne Tung, this activity “offers little to local communities in terms of jobs and income.”

“This is energy we could use differently – in industry or for the operation of socially beneficial data centres,” she added.

The authorities will conduct a comprehensive study of the sector. Existing enterprises are required to register by July 1.

Energy Minister Terje Aasland referred to the additional burden mining places on generating capacity, networks, and infrastructure.

“By prohibiting energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining, we can free up land, electricity, and network capacity for other purposes that contribute more to value creation, jobs, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” he stated.

Unrealised Potential

According to Hashrate Index, Norway’s share in the global Bitcoin hashrate is 1.63%. The country is considered a promising region for cryptocurrency miners due to cheap electricity and a cool climate. 

“However, the regulatory environment remains uncertain, with ongoing debates about the environmental impact of mining and how it fits into the country’s broader energy transition goals,” industry publication experts acknowledged.

Norway, in terms of deployed hashrate of the first cryptocurrency, lags not only behind recognized leaders like the USA (36%), Russia (16%), China (14%), but even the UAE (3.75%), and is on par with a relative “newcomer” to the industry — Ethiopia (1.5%). 

In 2021, Norwegian authorities expressed readiness to support the Swedish regulators’ initiative to ban PoW mining at the EU level. Officials cited “unjustified electricity costs.”

In 2022, the parliament rejected the corresponding bill, which was introduced and supported by left-wing parties.

In 2024, the departments led by Tung and Aasland revisited the idea of halting mining in the country as an undesirable activity. Their proposed legislation called for studying and regulating the sector.

At the local level, complaints against digital asset mining enterprises concerned the noise produced by data centres. In some cases, residents managed to achieve their closure.

In the United States, due to concerns including acoustic pollution, authorities in the American city of Vilonia, Arkansas, denied the opening of a mining data centre.