Bitcoin mining ban in Europe

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Even though Europe has again banned bitcoin miners,

Wrong.

If you had stopped to read the article and the comments you wouldn't say that.

The ban on mining in Europe is in the pipeline, not yet approved. It was already a project before, but now with the energy crisis and foreseeing power cuts for this winter, it is more in vogue.

I don't think we're going to have much strength to stop this. And, yes, I agree that it will affect the price, especially in the short term, and certainly less than when mining was banned in China, but it is not good news.

[mindrust]

It was a matter of time anyways. When the energy prices that high, of course they would come after bitcoin mining. Hopefully this won't affect he network in a bad way. Maybe we will lose some hash rate but everything will keep moving forward without a trouble.

On the other hand if the countries also join this act then that would kill most of bitcoin's hashrate. That would become a serious problem. Maybe PoS is the answer...

[Wind_FURY]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

I have been one of the most optimistic people about Bitcoin, and its possibilies of changing the political landscape, but THAT might be a real problem if we also consider the negative effects on inflation caused by their own policies, and the Russo-Ukraine war.

I believe there must be a lobby against it, but the debate behind it will be weak, with winter coming and the further stress it will cause to the power grids.

[Leviathan.007]

During recent months, I've seen many countries in Europe start attacking PoW and bitcoin mining because of the energy consumption also according to what I heard from my friends in some European countries they have problems with supplying energy for mining because the governments will not allow them in the times when the energy usage rises up. But I guess since we are still in the moments of the bitcoin adoption we can see more clear rules in Europe and other nations not make everything easier for the miners.

[avikz]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

There will be definitely impact on the bitcoin price if it happens in reality. However, that will be temporary for sure! who have already invested millions of euros to setup their mining operations, they will simply move out of Europe and set up in a crypto friendly nation. It's very similar to what happened in China.

So I think a temporary impact will be seen in the market if the EU decides to go ahead with the ban but we should be able to come back on track within a short period of time.

[examplens]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

There will be definitely impact on the bitcoin price if it happens in reality. However, that will be temporary for sure! who have already invested millions of euros to setup their mining operations, they will simply move out of Europe and set up in a crypto friendly nation. It's very similar to what happened in China.

So I think a temporary impact will be seen in the market if the EU decides to go ahead with the ban but we should be able to come back on track within a short period of time.

I would rather say that the reason for this energy-efficiency "concern" is the current energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. shortages of gas and oil certainly raise the need for electrical energy.
ideas about saving energy are being encouraged more and more, decorative lighting is being turned off, and sometimes even street lighting. of course, bitcoin mining, which is always labelled as a big energy consumer can't be ignored when is a discussion about energy saving.

[Abiky]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

I don't think this will affect Bitcoin's price, especially when there are other countries that are "miner-friendly". An EU ban would prompt miners to move to another region in order to keep their business running as usual. Just because most countries are turning their attention to climate change, doesn't mean Bitcoin mining will end for good. There will be a few countries that will allow Bitcoin mining, prolonging the life of the cryptocurrency. But you can rest assured that if PoW mining is banned all around the world, the community will simply "vote" to switch to a new "eco-friendly" consensus algorithm altogether.

Whenever the switch will degrade Bitcoin's decentralization or not, it's yet to be seen. I wouldn't worry about EU's "anti-crypto" policies as long as there are other countries supporting it every step of the way. Just my thoughts

[NotATether]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

Can someone be kind enough to send them to https://bitcoincleanup.com ? I would've done so myself but the electricity's out as I type this.

Seriously, I give N+1 reasons there why Proof of Work is like a protected infrastructure similar to countries.

[omone1]

There won't be ban, and just 10% of global mining of Proof-of-works is actually not much of a factor, European union shouldn't speak for member states in the aspect of energy for mining bitcoin. Each member states generates their energy.

[Abiky]

There won't be ban, and just 10% of global mining of Proof-of-works is actually not much of a factor, European union shouldn't speak for member states in the aspect of energy for mining bitcoin. Each member states generates their energy.

It seems to me that the EU has rushed its "anti-crypto mining agenda", because of rising energy prices within the bloc. None of this would've happened if Russia didn't invade Ukraine in the first place. Besides, the EU only consists of a small portion of mining hashrate compared to the rest of the world. If Bitcoin can no longer be mined within the EU's member states, miners would simply move their operations to another country with crypto-friendly laws. It would be just like China's Bitcoin mining ban which forced miners to move to another country.

This shows us the resiliency and strength of Bitcoin as a decentralized cryptocurrency no one can stop. If it were centralized, Bitcoin would've died the moment the Chinese government decided to make mining "illegal". Many crypto coins are switching to PoS, so it's likely Bitcoin will remain the only PoW cryptocurrency in the world. Just my opinion

[8rch7]

There won't be ban, and just 10% of global mining of Proof-of-works is actually not much of a factor, European union shouldn't speak for member states in the aspect of energy for mining bitcoin. Each member states generates their energy.

it's true as you said only 10% of them banned bitcoin mining in the EU, because there are indeed some investors and even government officials voted against the ban on bitcoin mining in the EU, because according to investors and some people in the government they are very confident that the crypto industry can score big wins in Europe, despite the government banning crypto mining in Europe but crypto-based companies, such as exchange platforms and storage services are not affected at all.

[DapanasFruit]

EU can completely ban mining - which I doubt they can do it 1oo% like China did - and this will not create any long-term effect on Bitcoin at all. For as long as money can still be made in mining crypto, there will always be places that can take the opportunity. As far as mining is concerned, we are talking here of a global potential of doing business...when we lost some places there will always be replacements...again as long profits can still be made. I am more concerned if mining will already be a loss proposition because that can be the time when there will be less mining operators.

[Mauser]

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

This would be terrible for the crypto community and I hope it's not going to happen. The number of crypto investors is much higher than the 10% share Europeans have on mining. If mining would be banned now in Europe this would create a lot of uncertainty about the future of cryptos all together. At the beginning of the year there was already a campaign in the EU parliament to regulate cryptos more heavily. All theae anti crypto movements is making investors more cautious and will lead to some of them selling their holdings. After the ban we will see a drop in prices for sure. The last few attempts by European politicians to regulate crypto currencies could be prevented by the majority. And right now it seems that nuclear energy is becoming the main focus again to provide energy in the future, it's one of the cheapest energy sources. This will hopefully take away some of the pressure crypto mining gets in Europe.

[Lucius]

This would be terrible for the crypto community and I hope it's not going to happen. The number of crypto investors is much higher than the 10% share Europeans have on mining.

Maybe I'm wrong, but the last time I looked, only Germany had a little more than 3% of the total hashrate, all other countries were far below 1%, so it didn't seem to me that such a ban would seriously affect the overall picture. Besides, who has any motivation to mine Bitcoin in the EU where electricity has always been expensive, and now that price is even higher?

I know that there are some projects in Italy (if I'm not mistaken) that use hydro energy from several small sources, and there are probably some more specific cases - but this whole POW ban thing will end up costing more than the effect it will have. When we know that the EU, under the pressure of expensive energy sources, began to turn away from its green initiative and put all the polluting industries into operation, we can rightly ask where all these bureaucrats find meaning in what they do...

[fuguebtc]

... Maybe PoS is the answer...

From your suggestion, I suspect they are doing all this to force bitcoin to move POS so it's easier for them to control bitcoin. Their goal is not to ban or kill bitcoin but to control and the only way to control bitcoin is to find a way to force it to move to POS like ETH. If bitcoin goes to Pos it will be the end of us, we will be controlled by the government again, I would rather accept the ban than have to use bitcoin Pos. Bitcoin would be like fiat today.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.

Only discourse and still in the stage of making rules, they only try to make the energy produced by crypto miners more efficient. But actually the energy efficiency needs by miners are not too large. I have read some news about the needs of electrical energy for miners, even the need for electrical energy is much lower compared to the needs of large companies that are widened in several regions of the European Union.
More precisely this is just an idea to find a special formula for the problems faced, so this principle in my opinion is not too efficient.

Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining

True, but does not have a strong reference that Europe represents 10% appropriately.

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

Not fully bitcoin influenced by things like this, China has made a strong ban on Bitcoin and Crypto mining in general, but Bitcoin is not influenced by the country, the decline in Bitcoin prices is caused by several more dominant things, rather than measured by Prohibitions caused by certain countries, because Bitcoin is not bound by state rules and is influenced by just a few people.
The price reduction process for Bitcoin has no connection with this kind of prohibition case, because several other countries also impose previous restrictions, but Bitcoin is still fine today.

[teosanru]

https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2022/10/18/eu-countries-must-be-ready-to-block-crypto-mining-commission-says/
EU Countries Must Be Ready to Block Crypto Mining, Commission Says
"The European Union's executive arm also wants blockchains to show energy-efficiency labels and to end crypto tax breaks.
Europe represents 10% of global proof-of-work mining"and

Can this affect the price of bitcoin or is this another anti-mining statement?

I don't know why this new sustainability saga is going around the World. Almost every business these days have to showcase their contribution to environment. I don't think this is wrong but to be true most of it is just a sham and actuality is far away from truth. Companies often say false in these statements. Talking about bitcoin the only way it can be energy efficient is if it shifts to mining using only and only renewable energy methods which is very difficult considering most of the mining is still done in developing nations, other way out is to shift to pos which will defeat the very purpose of bitcoin so makes no sense to shift on that as well.

[kryptqnick]

10% is nothing that can't be fixed pretty fast. Even when China, which back then had more than half of mining, banned it, the market adjusted pretty fast and enough miners relocated to other countries. So the biggest amount of negative effect from it is to miners who live in the EU specifically. Now is an unfortunate timing for Bitcoin mining due to not only environmental concerns but also energy insecurity and increasing prices. But even in Ukraine, where even basic electricity is currently clearly a big issue, so there are rolling blackouts and everyone is asked to use less energy if they can, a mining ban isn't being discussed.
I hope it won't come to an outright ban, even under current circumstances.

[Captain Corporate]

It should be fossil fuel ban for sure, not bitcoin mining ban. There is a good chance that it will happen in the future when we are not dependant on it, but for now we are, look at the situation in europe with gas and oil not coming from russia for example, they literally went back to firewood which is like 100+ year old solution to heating. This is why its much smarter to invest tens of billions of dollars into renewable energy, so that every single nation would be able to survive without needing to kneel before any other nation just for some gas. Bitcoin is spending energy, we need some changes in making it.

[Abiky]

From your suggestion, I suspect they are doing all this to force bitcoin to move POS so it's easier for them to control bitcoin. Their goal is not to ban or kill bitcoin but to control and the only way to control bitcoin is to find a way to force it to move to POS like ETH. If bitcoin goes to Pos it will be the end of us, we will be controlled by the government again, I would rather accept the ban than have to use bitcoin Pos. Bitcoin would be like fiat today.

That's ultimately their agenda. They want to force Bitcoin developers to defect towards PoS, in order to centralize the Blockchain for good. And what better excuse than saying Bitcoin's PoW model is "harmful to the environment"? You can see how ETH turned into a centralized "shitcoin" after it switched to PoS. Many have praised ETH's move towards "energy efficiency", but that has ultimately sacrificed the Blockchain's decentralization and censorship-resistance. ETH is now the governments' playground to do whatever they want with it. Imagine big validators (stakers) censoring transactions in order to comply with US sanctions. That would greatly undermine crypto/Blockchain tech's promise of "banking for the unbanked". Using a centralized PoS coin, would be no different that using banks.

I hope Bitcoin stays a PoW coin even if that means a full ban from the EU (and possibly the US). Decentralization needs to prevail in order to help bring people with true financial freedom. How would Bitcoin strive to be different from Fiat if it sacrifices decentralization in favor of performance and cost-efficiency? No one knows what will governments will come up with next, so we should be prepared for the worst. Just my opinion