New Report Reveals EU Considered Ban on Bitcoin Citing Environmental Concerns

• New papers suggest that EU officials are not fans of Bitcoin.
• The EU seems to ignore the advantages of Bitcoin’s decentralized payment system.

Bitcoin’s energy use has been revealed in a document acquired via a freedom of information act request. According to the paper, an outright trade ban is also on the horizon for the world’s most popular cryptocurrency.

New papers suggest that EU officials are not fans of Bitcoin. A study released by digital rights group Netzpolitik on Thursday highlighted the scope of anti-Bitcoin discussions among EU authorities. In addition, information acquired via freedom of information requests shows how far debates on outlawing Bitcoin mining and trade in the EU have advanced.

Compel Bitcoin to Switch to PoS

The expansion of Bitcoin mining in Sweden was addressed at an EU conference between Sweden’s financial regulator and environmental agency. One speaker wondered whether the government might compel Bitcoin to switch to the less energy-intensive Proof-of-Stake validation method. Another speaker at the same conference questioned directly whether the EU should prohibit the trade of crypto assets based on the Proof-of-Work algorithm of Bitcoin. He was not alone. Even though the response was redacted to preserve an “ongoing decision-making process.”

The EU seems to ignore the advantages of Bitcoin’s decentralized, peer-to-peer payments system while concentrating entirely on its energy use, from Ukrainians utilizing bitcoins to assist them in fleeing violence to Argentinians investing in Bitcoin to avoid inflation.

The paper provided today by Netzpolitik concerns a meeting that took place in November of 2021. The EU Parliament has since rejected a prohibition on Proof-of-Work mining. However, some EU officials’ methods of regulating Bitcoin may be learned from this paper. Cryptocurrencies based on Proof-of-Stake are secure, yet Bitcoin appears to be a contentious subject in European politics.