After the freedom of information act request, previously unknown papers documenting the EU’s discussions about prohibiting Bitcoin were made public. As per the provided documents through the freedom of information act request, European Union (EU) authorities considered prohibiting Cryptocurrency throughout a debate on a suggestion to prohibit Proof of Work processing.
As per a report issued by the German digitalization organization Netzpolitik, EU authorities moved so far as to advise that an outright ban against buying Bitcoin (BTC) be imposed in order to reduce its overall power use.
The most concerning statements come from a document outlining the minutes of an EU conference with Sweden’s economic superintendent and an environmental safety agency, in which authorities recommended that regulatory authorities try to force the Bitcoin system to swap to a Proof of Stake (PoS) framework, rather than its existing power Proof of Work (PoW) method.
In the conversation, an anonymous official stated, “Ethereum began transitioning [to PoS] for its society Ethereum is capable of moving, we might legally expect the same from BTC.” We have to ‘defend’ other long-term digital coins. We wouldn’t see the point in ‘protecting’ the Bitcoin system.”
Another anonymous presenter claimed that the EU could legitimately prohibit trade in any digital currencies using a PoW algorithm.
The answers to these questions were as obscured in the paper in order to preserve the “continuing judgment procedure,” but it emphasizes that the EU was really contemplating such drastic restrictions.
When asked about the impact of an explicit Bitcoins restriction on shareholders and market makers, authorities were unaware of the problems, noting that all Bitcoins traders are clearly cognizant of the possible losses.
“BTC users are fully cognizant of the monetary system risk fluctuation.” [We] do not require any more safeguards.”
This revelation comes as environmentalists and authorities remain concerned about Bitcoin’s power use. The mining process now uses approximately 139 terawatt-hours (Twh) of energy each year, per the University of Cambridge’s Bitcoins Power Consumption Index. As per Statista, the whole UK will only use an anticipated 265 Twh in 2021.
Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen partnered with Greenpeace at the end of March to exert pressure on Bitcoin to switch to a PoS consensus protocol, similar to what Ethereum plans to do eventually this year.
The EU’s Financial and Monetary Affairs Council democratically passed against proposals that would have prohibited Solid evidence mining. These records, though, include a special perspective into the extent to which some EU authorities are willing to make an effort to reduce commodities’ energy usage.
While it seems that PoS cryptocurrency will be protected from broad legislative action in the foreseeable future, the mining process will remain a contentious topic in the EU.
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