Cardano Founder Says Bitcoin Mining Is Point of Contention for U.S. Lawmakers

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson says that there are some tensions in Washington regarding cryptocurrency mining since many lawmakers view Bitcoin as wasteful.

“Energy-producing states have an enormous excess of energy. For example, natural gas production crates flare gas, and capturing and using it for mining is a profitable endeavor…Other people say we are wasting electricity,” he said during a recent live stream.

There is a strong desire among left-leaning lawmakers to involve the Department of Energy in the mining conversation. There are some efforts to outlaw mining and replace proof of work with other consensus algorithms if miners cannot find a way to be carbon-neutral or negative.

Securities and commodities

Hoskinson believes that regulation by enforcement, which is being practiced by the SEC, is unlikely to be successful. There is still no clarity as to which cryptocurrencies can be classified as securities, in his view:

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How do we get to the point where we can determine whether a cryptocurrency is a security or a commodity?

Hoskinson says that people tend to view blockchain technology as strictly a financial asset in many cases. However, he notes that it has profound applications for building resilient electrical grids and telecommunications grids, developing voting systems, storing health records and so on. He said:

We need to broaden the scope of discussions around cryptocurrencies so that we understand that they do more than just one thing.

Productive cooperation

The Cardano founder praised those lawmakers on both sides of the aisle who were open to working with the industry. Hoskinson mentioned that plenty of lobbying had been done by several crypto organizations:

We’ve been regularly engaging with various lawmakers, and they’ve been very productive.