The European Parliament voted on Monday against a de facto ban on cryptocurrencies that rely on energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanisms, such as Bitcoin, from its proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework.
See related article: How serious is the threat of Bitcoin mining to the environment?
Fast facts
- The Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee voted 31 to 4, with 23 abstentions, to advance the bill without the provisions that limit cryptocurrency mining in the EU’s 27 member states.
- Members of the European Parliament pointed out industries such as video games and data centers also require energy-intensive processes and called for the commission to address environmental issues across different sectors.
- MiCA was introduced in 2020 to provide a legal framework for the European Union.
- Stefan Berger, the European Parliament spearheading the bill, had announced the removal of the language that would limit crypto mining earlier in March following public backlash, but the de facto ban on Bitcoin had returned for consideration until Monday’s vote.
- The bill is now entering negotiations with EU governments after a 33-to-25 vote.
See related article: Bitcoin, proof-of-work ban removed from European Union’s MiCA