Europe Officially Allows Bitcoin Mining Despite Rising Greenhouse Gas Emissions

     Bitcoin mining consumes an incredible amount of electricity. It is not clear what Satoshi Nakamoto was thinking at all, but his brainchild turned out to be one of the most terrible inventions of mankind and burns an incredible amount of hydrocarbons. For comparison, by the end of 2021, the entire Bitcoin network began to consume more than Norway. If we were talking about a specific country, then experts would place it in 27th place in the world, which gives an understanding of the scale of the problem. Last year, China abandoned cryptocurrencies, banning the mining, trading, and even storage of digital assets. It is clear that the main reason was to try to free up a niche for the digital yuan, but the environment was not in the last place here.

    Since the European Union has been trying for many years to move towards energy efficiency and reduce pressure on nature, it has become quite natural to ban cryptocurrencies that are mined using the traditional Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm. Yesterday, a meeting of the EC was held, within which the final point was made, and in the future, the parliamentarians do not plan to return to this issue. So, the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs decided to abandon the prohibitive measures against cryptocurrencies that spend electricity for mining. At the same time, it is noted that it is necessary to adopt a legislative framework aimed at regulating digital money in the European Union as soon as possible.

    Many European environmentalists have expressed disappointment with the decision, as cryptocurrency mining undermines the EU's commitment to a clean energy transition. The problem here is that the bulk of Bitcoin is mined using electricity, which is generated by burning hydrocarbons (ordinary coal). Thus, it can be stated that on one hand, parliamentarians force large companies to spend billions of dollars on the environment, and on the other hand, they open the doors for miners. Especially problematic is the exodus of farmers from China. The fact is that a large part of the production was so provided with clean energy produced at hydroelectric power plants. After appearing in Europe, miners began to use available sources, but many countries simply burn coal, significantly increasing greenhouse gas emissions.