EU Parliament votes against bitcoin mining ban

French legislator said draft proposal would have been ‘mortifying for our competitiveness’

The European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee voted against a ban on proof-of-work bitcoin mining on 14 March, 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

The European Parliament has voted against a proposed ban on proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, which would have blocked member states from mining bitcoin.

The Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework proposed that bitcoin and other energy-intensive cryptocurrencies would need to “set up and maintain a phased rollout plan to ensure compliance with such requirements”.

In centred on the proof-of-work process used by bitcoin and other leading cryptocurrencies, which requires computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles in order to generate new units of the digital asset.

At a meeting of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs of the European Parliament on Monday, 34 members voted against the provision of the draft that would ban proof-of-work cryptocurrency networks, while 24 voted in favour.

“First stage win at MiCA committee,” tweeted EU Parliament member Stefan Berger. “By accepting my proposal, members have paved the way for future-oriented crypto regulation. It is now a matter of accepting the report as a whole in the final vote and sending out a strong signal for innovation.”

Crypto advocates had widely criticised the draft proposal, describing it as ‘extraordinarily concerning” and claiming that it would “completely destabilise” the bitcoin network.

“MEPs have taken a hard line on crypto assets, thinking they are protecting citizens,” said French legislator Pierre Person ahead of the vote.

“In reality, this version is mortifying for our competitiveness while, at the same time, President Biden has signed an act calling for the US to fully embrace this new ecosystem.”

Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the UK-based digital asset broker GlobalBlock, told The Independent that a majority vote in favour of banning proof-of-work would have crippled crypto innovation in Europe and allow other countries and regions to “fully embrace the crypto revolution”.