Bitcoin ban returns: EU Parliament with new demands

At the end of February it was located in the EU Ban on “energy-intensive cryptocurrencies” in the room. At the time, many feared a ban on Proof-of-Work (PoW)-based assets. The advance was prevented at the last second in Parliament.

Now, representatives of the EU Parliament from the Greens, the Left and the Social Democrats are putting the PoW ban back on the agenda in a trilogue with the Commission and the Council. In the worst case, the lawsuits could cause crypto providers to stop supporting PoW-based cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. BTC-ECHO has the draft ahead of it, and it has a lot to offer. But one after another.

The first requirement concerns the amount of information crypto projects must provide in their white paper. In it, according to the will of the EU Parliament, “general information on the environmental and climatic impacts of a [jeden] consensus mechanism.

For Bitcoin, the most well-known PoW-based cryptocurrency, this is problematic because it is not possible to change the white paper at a later date. Experts are alarmed. Robert Kopitsch of the association Blockchain for Europe warns BTC-ECHO:

The new demands of the S&D and the Greens not only represent an immense effort for all those involved, but also create new regulatory uncertainties, which in extreme cases could lead to the banning of some crypto assets such as Bitcoin. The initiative also goes far beyond the agreement already reached in the EU Parliament.

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Bitcoin Providers Must Verify Compliance with Sustainability Standards

Additionally, negotiators in the EU Parliament want to force crypto providers to present information on the most significant negative environmental and climate impacts for each crypto asset offered “prominently” on their own platform.

In addition, the European securities regulator will define sustainability standards and thresholds. Originally, the approved parliamentary draft referred to “guidelines”. With the new wording, the negotiators of the Green, Left and Social Democratic camps raise the measures to a mandatory level.

Therefore, cryptocurrency providers must comply with standards that have not yet been defined if they want to operate in the EU. Platforms must also take “effective measures” to “adequately address negative environmental and climate impacts.” Consequently, failure to comply could result in cryptocurrency being banned from trading venues.

in the April issue of BTC-ECHO magazine We summarize the ban drama surrounding Bitcoin. At that time it was clear that the negotiations were less constructive and much more ideological in nature. It seems that way this time too. It remains to be seen to what extent the new demands have been agreed with the rest of Parliament. However, it seems as if the ban faction around the Greens, the Left and the Social Democrats is trying to turn the defeat in the parliamentary vote into an ideological victory in the tripartite dialogue. Whether this will be successful remains to be seen. The tripartite negotiations take place today, June 14.