The production of cryptoassets is an energy-intensive and carbon-intensive process. Sweden needs a significant amount of recoverable resources, as active energy consumption by miners threatens the country with non-compliance with the Paris Accords. The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Financial Supervisory Authority have decided that it is worth banning energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining.
Mining Bitcoin and Etherium uses twice as much electricity per year as the whole of Sweden (according to the University of Cambridge).
The higher the value of bitcoin becomes, the mining process becomes less environmentally friendly as the complexity of the calculations increases.
A trip on an electric car of average size is equal to 1.8 million kilometers, which is equal to mining one bitcoin. Experts believe that this is an irrational use of energy, given that about 900 bitcoins are mined every day.
“We have concluded that policy measures are needed to address the harm caused by mining. It is important that Sweden, and the EU, can use our renewable energy sources where they are of greatest benefit to society as a whole,” the regulators said.
“Banning a proof-of-work mining method in the EU could be the first step in a global movement towards greater use of more energy-efficient crypto-mining methods. It will also mean that our renewable energy is used as efficiently as possible to support the transition
“Banning the EU proof-of-work mining method could be the first step in a global movement towards greater use of more energy-efficient crypto-mining methods. It will also mean that our renewable energy is used as efficiently as possible to support the transition to climate neutrality,” the Environmental Protection Agency and the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority said in a statement.
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