A European parliamentary committee will vote on Monday on a new regulatory framework for crypto assets, which could accelerate passage of a measure that industry executives say could practically ban key digital currencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum in Europe.
Crypto-assets issued and/or traded in the EU “shall be subject to minimum environmental sustainability standards and set up and maintain a phased rollout plan to ensure compliance” with those requirements, according to the final draft for the law, dubbed MiCa, that was seen by Bloomberg News. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee will vote on the bill on Monday.
The reference to minimum sustainability as well as rollout requirements appear to be last-minute changes introduced to curb, or ban, the use of digital currencies working on a so-called “proof-of-work” consensus mechanism, for instance Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Proof of work is one of the main consensus mechanism governing the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin…
