Note that the current situation is a continuation of the trend of criticism of Bitcoin and the energy efficiency of its mining. It was formed in the spring of 2021, when the Chinese government took it upon itself to ban BTC mining in the country. A little later, a similar position was voiced by Elon Musk.

However, the activity of Bitcoin miners produces far fewer carbon dioxide emissions than other popular fields. We’re talking about gold mining, the aviation industry and simply running air conditioners. So the glaring criticism of BTC doesn’t always seem justified.

Comparison of carbon dioxide emissions in different fields

How they are trying to ban Bitcoin

The results of the vote became known last night. In particular the success on MiCA was reported by Stefan Berger, EU Member of Parliament and rapporteur. Here is his rejoinder with which the expert shared the results of the meeting.

First victory in the first stage of MiCA in Committee! By accepting my proposal, officials have paved the way for future-oriented regulation of cryptocurrencies. Now it’s just a matter of adopting the report as a whole in the final vote and giving a strong push for innovation.

According to Coindesk sources, the proposal on the ballot demanded that all cryptocurrencies be subject to “minimum EU environmental sustainability standards for their consensus mechanism”. For popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Etherium, which have long been traded in the EU, meeting the aforementioned standards is effectively impossible, as both blockchains operate on an energy-intensive Proof-of-Work basis.

So, in essence, adopting such a decision would make it much more difficult for Europeans to mine. This would probably result in an inability to mine, which would probably mean that the owners of the equipment would have to export it to other countries.

European Parliament

The majority voted in favour of a compromise that calls on the European Commission, the EU executive body responsible for proposing the new legislation, to propose an alternative regulation with the following interpretation.

By 1 January 2025, the Commission must submit to the European Parliament and the Council, as appropriate, a legislative proposal to amend Regulation (EC) 2020/852, in accordance with Article 10 of that regulation. The aim is to include any crypto-asset mining activity that makes a significant contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation in the EU sustainable financing taxonomy.

The founder of Ledger, a French company that makes hardware wallets, also commented on the situation. Here is a quote from Pascal Gauthier. He believes that it is too early to be happy about what is happening.

We can celebrate this victory, but the fight is far from over. It is already known that those wishing to ban BTC are planning to try again to pass the proposal at the upcoming plenary vote. Other aspects of MiCA are problematic – especially the stifling development of NFT tokens and the world of decentralised finance.

In other words, ordinary miners in Europe may not worry about possible “harassment” by the authorities just yet. In the US, however, the situation is a little different: the day before in the US state of Tennessee locals filed a lawsuit against the mining company Red Dog Technologies, which works closely with the energy company BrightRidge.

Crypto Farm

Red Dog first hit the local news last October when a resident filed a civil lawsuit complaining that the large crypto farm was “unreasonably interfering” with their “use and enjoyment” of their property. The company actively mines crypto from 8pm to 2am on weekdays local time. After 8 p.m. on Fridays, the equipment runs non-stop throughout the weekend. With that said, residents complain of a “loud buzz” emanating from the company’s property.

Red Dog has already been in the crosshairs of local mayor Joe Grandy since last summer, when the county planning administrator told him that the company was not following zoning regulations and the county could shut it down through the courts. Grandy, who represents the county on the BrightRidge board of directors, has been conspicuously hesitant to take the necessary action since then. Last autumn, the county’s planning commission voted unanimously to close the facility if the power company failed to comply.


We believe that the European Parliament's decision was an important milestone for Bitcoin. Obviously, the reputation of cryptocurrencies will now improve as even officials see them as a positive. And that means it will be easier for first-time investors who haven't had a chance to get involved with crypto yet to take up the topic. Hopefully, there will definitely be more of them now.

If the county manages to shut down crypto farms, this case could set a precedent for many other regions in the US, where large-scale crypto mining businesses are growing. In any case, you can follow the development of this situation in our Millionaire Crypto Chat.