Today, the European Union Parliament overturned a de facto ban on Bitcoin and Ether. The contentious plan sought to mitigate pollution caused by the most inefficient coins. Even if the idea failed, officials are likely to continue to scrutinize cryptocurrencies as the EU attempts to address twin climate and energy challenges. Since China banned cryptocurrencies last year, eradicating their pollution has become a global game of whack-a-mole.
The European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee decided on Monday to advance the development of a legislative framework for regulating digital assets. It also resolved to scrap a planned rule in the framework that would have barred EU citizens from utilizing an energy-intensive procedure to manufacture cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.
