Once again, US lawmakers are turning their attention to cryptocurrencies. However, this does not bode well since we know that they are completely opposed to it. This time, a subject in particular is close to their hearts and the mining of bitcoin (BTC) could well suffer from it…
USA, House lawmakers go after major crypto miners
More and more people are interested in the crypto sector. If they see it as an exciting field, others like American lawmakers see it as a toxic environment. In the USA, the Democrats do not budge and continue to demonstrate against cryptocurrencies in general, and bitcoin (BTC) in particular.
This time it is the members of the United States House of Energy Committee and commerce who sent letters to four publicly traded crypto miners. Indeed, they would like to know more about the impact of bitcoin mining on the environment.
Lawmakers recognize that blockchain technology has many benefits that could benefit Americans. However, support for cryptos based on the Proof-of-Work (PoS) can be very harmful to the environment.
As a result, three of the largest US miners, Core Scientific (CORZ), Riot Blockchain (RIOT) and Marathon Digital (MARA), as well as the smallest, Stronghold Digital (SDIG) are the main affected. The latter must respond to letters signed by Frank Pallone, the chairman of the committee, Jr (D-NJ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Diana Degette (D-CO) and Paul Tonko (D-NY).
Mining bitcoin (BTC), Democrats could harm its mining
After a surprising recovery, bitcoin (BTC) is once again hovering in the red. Indeed, the main cryptocurrency is down more than 6% in the last 24 hours. While investors grapple with this instability, US lawmakers are hounding bitcoin mining. The latter are right in the middle of a scrutiny of the environmental impact of crypto mining.
Recently, six Democrats led by Jared Huffman and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) calling it “disturbing” the amount of energy used by miners.
Although they recognize that some miners reduce their energy needs by using renewable energy sources, legislators remain convinced that bitcoin mining causes significant damage to the environment. Therefore, they invite the EPA and the DOE to require more reporting on the energy consumption of cryptocurrency mining.
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