EU authorities propose to ban mining in case of power supply problems

The European Commission also decided to develop energy efficiency labels for various blockchains

19.10.2022 - 09:00

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What’s new? Electricity supply problems in the European Union countries could lead to a ban on cryptocurrency mining being imposed. Such measures are proposed in a new European Commission document on measures to digitalize the energy sector to improve efficiency and integrate renewable energy sources.

The full version of the document

What else did the European Commission suggest? According to the document, the EU member states should be prepared to instantly stop mining in case of excessive load on the power supply systems. In addition, the authorities should soon develop energy efficiency labels for various blockchains.

Among other measures for the crypto sector, the European Commission is considering eliminating tax breaks for mining companies that mine cryptocurrencies using the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm.

In July, the Swedish authorities announced that miners would be supplied with electricity on a residual basis due to a shortage of resources. In September, the non-governmental environmental working group launched a $1 million advertising campaign to switch bitcoin to Proof-of-Stake (PoS). And in October, Norway proposed to cancel the preferential electricity rate for mining farms.

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