Recently it came crypto news out that the European Parliament proof-of-work (PoW) to ban cryptocurrencies. Under this category fall cryptocurrencies like bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH). But luckily there is good news. The text of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation has been amended after considerable criticism arose.
EU wanted to ban bitcoin
Last week was read how the EU intended to ban PoW cryptos. One of the goals of MiCA was to ban ‘unsustainable consensus mechanisms’. Bitcoin is often the subject of criticism because it takes a lot of energy to… minen.
Parliament is expected to vote on the bill on February 28. Stefan Berger, chairman of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, said it was very likely that the ban would pass. But in the end the vote was postponed with good news as a result.
BTC ban removed from text
According to the German website BTC Echo the specific text regarding the ban has been removed from the text. Berger confirmed the news on Twitter.
“That’s right: the paragraph is no longer in the text. The report has yet to be voted on in committee. In this vote we will see where the majorities lie. The decision has not yet been made.”
Correct is: The paragraph is no longer in the text. The report has yet to be voted on in committee. In this vote we will then see where the majorities lie. The decision has not been made yet.
— Stefan Berger (@DrStefanBerger) March 1, 2022
It remains to be seen whether this version achieves a majority. The proposal to ban PoW cryptos came mainly from the left-wing, green and social-democratic quarters where sustainability is of course an important theme.
In other European news, it was announced last week that the EU has significantly increased sanctions against Russia and a number of Russian banks from the SWIFT system has put. The move was accompanied by a soaring bitcoin price, suggesting that Russians may… buy bitcoin to the collapsing ruble to escape. Nevertheless, the sanction does not appear to completely undermine Russia, partly because the EU has its own to avoid the energy crisis.
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