Sweden wants Europe to ban Bitcoin mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a very common practice in the tech segment. However, we know that this is an action that has a certain impact on the environment as it consumes a lot of energy and resources.

So now Sweden wants Europe to ban Bitcoin mining in order to reach the 1.5 ° C climate target set in Paris.

Sweden wants Europe to ban Bitcoin mining

Swedish authorities are asking the European Union to ban mining of cryptocurrencies, namely bitcoins, due to their "energy intensive".

Erik Tedeen, director of Sweden's Financial Conduct Authority, and Bjorn Reisinger, director of the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, the growing use of energy for bitcoin mining threatens Sweden in its quest to fulfill its obligations under the Paris Climate Agreement. ...

Tedin and Reisinger highlighted that energy consumption from Bitcoin mining in the Scandinavian country has increased by “several hundred percent,” with the current energy consumption equivalent to 200,000 households. Thus, the reduction or complete cessation of mining operations will mean significant energy savings that will help the country to more easily achieve its goals.

In an open letter, the heads of Sweden's major financial and environmental regulators called on the entire EU to ban cryptocurrency mining. One of the main problems that caused this interference is the “proof of work” system used by the user to confirm work performed, used in many of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The mining of digital coins in the Nordic countries has increased in recent months. However, Tedin and Reisinger point out that as renewable energy is diverted from industrial, transportation, and domestic uses, it in turn is channeled towards mining bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

According to the directors:

It is currently possible to travel 1.8 million kilometers in a midsize electric vehicle with the same energy required to mine a single bitcoin.

This is equivalent to 44 circles around the globe. And 900 bitcoins are mined every day. This is an unwise use of our renewable energy.

Do you agree with the proposal to stop mining bitcoin in Europe?