Sweden wants Europe to ban Bitcoin mining
Cryptocurrency is hitting the world pretty hard right now. Whether you’re trying to get a graphics card for your new gaming beast, or just caring about the environment, you’ve probably run into problems with crypto.
Well, in that case, you are not alone according to Euronews. The directors of Finansinspektionen and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Erik Thedéen and Bjorn Risinger, have expressed concern about the country’s ability to meet climate commitments.
According to the directors, crypto mining soared in Sweden by several hundred percent between April and August. This is in line with what we have noticed in the graphics card markets in Europe. Especially in Germany and Austria where the cards go at more than double the recommended prices, probably mostly to break the crypto.
They say that the current mining of Bitcoin in the country uses as much electricity as 200,000 ordinary households, we have seen some pretty devastating power implications themselves when it comes to transactions, so you can see why they are worried about not meeting their Paris Climate Agreement goal.
They are not the only ones. Directors of the largest financial and environmental supervisory authorities in Sweden are seeking an end to evidence of work with crypto mining. There are so many popular cryptocurrencies that are embossed and involve mathematical problem solving that uses a lot of computing power. It can be a couple of hundred thousand houses worth of electricity that is saved only in Sweden.
Electricity prices in Sweden are relatively good and thanks to investments in renewable energy, the country unfortunately attracts crypto mining. This is likely to increase now as well, as China has declared cryptocurrencies illegal and many will be looking for new places.
The directors also call on Sweden to put an end to all new crypto mining and to ban all companies involved in trading in or investing in crypto assets from claiming environmental sustainability, thanks to the enormous amounts of energy required.
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