Sweden calls on Europe to ban crypto mining over environmental concerns

A hot potato: The price of cryptocurrencies continues to rise and while this is good news for miners, it means that more people are jumping on the bandwagon, which is the equivalent of spending more energy mining Bitcoin. Sweden considers that the environmental impact of this activity is so severe that it wants to ban it completely in Europe.

Euronews reports that two directors of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority, Erik Thedéen and Bjorn Risinger, said that the rise of crypto mining in the country and the subsequent increase in energy use threatens their ability to meet the targets set out in the Climate Agreement. from Paris. Therefore, they suggest banning proof-of-work crypto mining across Europe, and that Sweden prevent the establishment of new crypto mining operations and that companies that trade and invest in crypto assets are prohibited from describing themselves as environmentally sustainable.

The couple said that the energy consumption of Bitcoin mining in Sweden increased by several hundred percent between April and August and now consumes the electricity equivalent to 200,000 households.

“Cryptoassets are a threat to the climate transition: Energy-intensive mining should be banned,” regulators said in a statement. “The University of Cambridge and Digiconomist estimate that the two largest crypto assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum, together use about twice as much electricity in a year as all of Sweden.”

Sweden has relatively low electricity prices thanks to its focus on using renewable energy sources. Ironically, it is these low costs that attract miners and have an environmental impact. The problem has worsened since China declared all cryptocurrencies illegal a few months ago, forcing the miners to move to another location.

It is not just cryptocurrency mining that impacts the environment. The average NFT, which all seems to be hugging These days, you have a carbon footprint equivalent to more than a month of electricity use for the average person living in the European Union.

Not everyone agrees with the Swedish watchdog’s assessment. Paris-based alternative investment firm Melanion Capital said (via Cointelegraph), “The claim that Bitcoin miners endanger the power grid is completely misinformed.”

“The absence of such a political counterweight [for Bitcoin miners] it should not be taken as an opportunity to implement measures that make an industry illegal due to its lack of defensive powers. “