TL;DR Breakdown
- Swedish regulator wants a ban on crypto mining.
- The regulator says mining is threatened by its Paris agreement.
- The body has earmarked three steps to eliminate crypto mining activities.
Although trading and mining digital assets are profitable, the latter leaves the environment in bad shape. Finansinspektionen, the authority in Sweden that oversees financial supervision, is lobbying for a ban on mining digital assets. According to the body, mining digital assets should be abolished because it is a threat to the living conditions of humans and the environment. Mining digital assets require miners to use heavy amounts of electricity, and with that, most miners are moving to a renewable form of energy to mine assets with. With concerns growing over the source of energy used to mine digital assets, Swedish regulators have spoken out regarding the situation.
Banning crypto mining would save the environment
According to regulators, most of the renewable energy used by miners for crypto mining purposes is the energy they use for essential services. It points out that with miners encroaching on the renewable energy they use, the country might renege on the Paris agreement. With this, the regulator has called for the government to consider banning any mining activity requiring massive amounts of energy.
In its statement, the body mentioned that the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency also sees things from its view. This latest announcement is coming after the COP26 conference, where environmental activities worldwide urged governments to move swiftly to help the climate.
Plan to ban proof of work mining
Sweden provides crypto miners with an abundance of resources to carry out their crypto mining activities. However, the regulator feels that miners should not prioritize using the resources they like over essential services providers. Without a doubt, the regulator does not share in the view that crypto is a much-needed asset with great potential.
This is understandable as the country has lately been in the news regarding illicit affairs in the crypto sector. It notes that all these issues and other negative aspects suggest that crypto’s dark side might still be around.
Sharing the regulator’s view, Digiconomist founder Alex de Vries positioned that using renewable energies to mine digital assets is just like wasting resources. Asides from the encroachment on renewable energy, there have been issues regarding crypto miners using massive amounts of electricity for their business.
The regulator wants the European Union to order a ban on proof of work miners to combat these issues. He also advised that Sweden needs to abolish new miners from setting up shops in the country. Finally, he said miners involved in proof of work assets should not be classified under renewable energy users.
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