Sweden wants Europe to ban Bitcoin mining

Crypto mining is hitting the world pretty hard right now. Whether you’re trying to get a graphics card for your new gaming beast, or just care about the environment, you’ve probably run into concerns with crypto.

Well if so, you’re not alone according to Euronews. The directors of the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency, Erik Thedéen and Bjorn Risinger have raised concerns about the country’s ability to meet climate obligations. 

According to the directors, crypto mining skyrocketed in Sweden by several hundred percent between April and August. This matches up with what we’ve noticed in the graphics card markets in Europe. Especially in Germany and Austria where cards are going for more than double recommended prices, probably mostly to mine crypto. 

They say the current mining of Bitcoin in the country uses as much electricity as 200,000 regular households, we've seen some pretty devastating power implications ourselves when it comes to transactions, so you can see why they’re concerned about not meeting their Paris Climate Agreement targets. 

They’re not the only ones. Directors of the biggest financial and environmental regulators in Sweden are seeking an end to proof of work crypto mining. This is how many popular cryptocurrencies are minted, and involves mathematical problem solving which uses a lot of computing power. That could be a couple hundred thousand houses worth of power saved in Sweden alone. 

Electricity prices in Sweden are relatively good, and thanks to efforts into renewable energy, the country is unfortunately attracting crypto mining operations. This will likely increase now too, as China declared cryptocurrencies illegal and many will be looking for new locations.

The directors are also calling for Sweden to put a stop to any new crypto mining operations and to disallow any companies that are involved in trading or investing in crypto assets from claiming environmental sustainability, thanks to the massive amounts of energy required.

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