EU Lawmakers Decide Not To Restrict Proof-of-Work Mining
While EU’s heavily debated MiCA regulation is going forward, it will not include the provisions of the PoW ban.
EU’s proposed MiCA regulations, has been a widely discussed topic, especially the provision that was aimed at outlawing proof-of-work cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Now, the regulation is going forward but wont include these clauses.
The European Union’s (EU) proposed Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulatory package is going forward without the controversial provision limiting the use of the proof-of-work cryptocurrencies due to energy consumption concerns.
The EU lawmakers were working to reach a consensus to better regulate the crypto space, before moving to the trilogue negotiations between the parliament, council, and commission.
Stefan Berger, the German lawmaker leading the MiCA regulation, tweeted on Friday that his proposed mandate of not including a POW ban is not challenged.
“MiCA: Good news! My mandate is NOT challenged. I will now go into the trilogue negotiations with the position that there will be no PoW ban. The EU Parliament gives me tailwind & shows innovative strength”
#MiCA: Gute Nachricht! Mein Mandat wird NICHT gechallenged. Ich werde nun in die Trilog-Verhandlungen gehen mit der Position, dass es keinen #PoW-Ban geben wird. Das EU-Parlament gibt mir Rückenwind & zeigt Innovationskraft /1
According to Berger, the deadline for challenging the mandate ended at midnight on Thursday and the MiCA trilogue will begin next week.
Also on the table to be discussed in the parliament are Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized finance (DeFi). The question remains in if they should be included in the MiCA package and which EU institutions should be responsible for overseeing the crypto space.
Earlier this month, the Euro Parliament voted no to include explicit language that is for banning proof-of-work cryptocurrencies in a 30-23 vote.
