The vice chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), Erik Thedéen, is reportedly calling for a ban on proof-of-work crypto mining activities due to the industry’s perceived high energy demands.
Speaking with the Financial Times, Thedéen, who is also the acting director general of Sweden’s financial services regulator Finansinspektionen, said Bitcoin mining had become a “national” issue for the Scandinavian country. He said:
“The solution is to ban proof-of-work. Proof-of-stake has a significantly lower energy profile.”
Thedéen nevertheless added that he is not in favor of a general ban on the crypto industry.
“We need to have a discussion about shifting the industry to a more efficient technology. The financial industry and a lot of large institutions are now active in cryptocurrency markets, and they have [environmental, social and governance] responsibilities.”
Sweden’s Finansinspektionen advised in November of last year for a ban on energy-intensive crypto mining in a threefold proposal, providing the following explanation:
“Sweden needs the renewable energy targeted by crypto assets by crypto asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services, and increased use by miners threatens our ability to meet the Paris Agreement. Energy-intensive mining of crypto assets should therefore be prohibited.”
The crypto mining industry has become an easy target in the past year for its alleged immense use of energy demands. Claims which have been debunked and in addition do require a better understanding of the mainstream audience what crypto, especially Bitcoin, really is about.
A failure to understand proof of work is a failure to understand #Bitcoin.
A thread.
— Gigi
(@dergigi) May 13, 2021
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Central banking is a proof-of-stake scheme built to co-opt the original proof-of-work money: gold.#Bitcoin fixes this whole mess. https://t.co/i981EutJai
— Robert ₿reedlove (@Breedlove22) March 30, 2021
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Fiat currency Proof-of-Work vs #bitcoin PoW pic.twitter.com/UgfP6ZmTGb
— PlanB (@100trillionUSD) February 19, 2021
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Source: Igaming
