Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority calls for a ban on mining in the EU

According to the regulator, cryptocurrency mining will prevent the region's ability to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change

08.11.2021 - 13:30

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What's new? The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency have called for a ban on cryptocurrency mining for assets based on the Proof-of-Work algorithm. The regulator has asked the European Union to impose a restriction on cryptocurrency mining projects because they consume too much energy:

Regulator’s statement

“Sweden needs the renewable energy targeted by crypto assets by crypto-asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services. Increased use by miners threatens our ability to meet the Paris Agreement on climate change.”

What is the essence of the statement? Citing a Digiconomist report, the FSA mentioned the fact that Bitcoin and Ethereum miners use twice as much electricity in a year as all of Sweden. As the value of crypto assets rises, the number of people wanting to make money from mining them increases. The researchers emphasize that more emissions are released during the mining of digital coins because of the increasing complexity of computing.

The Digiconomist report

What do the experts say? The head of the Financial Supervisory Authority, EtikThedéen, and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Björn Risinger, stressed in a statement:

“There are other mining methods that can also be used for bitcoin and Ethereum. They are estimated to reduce energy consumption by 99,95% while maintaining functionality.”

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