EU Votes against provision which would have effectively banned Bitcoin and Ethereum

Today the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee of the European Parliament voted against the inclusion of a provision in the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulation which would have essentially led to a ban of Bitcoin and other proof-of-work cryptocurrencies in the EU.

MiCa is the proposed regulatory framework for crypto assets in the EU, which includes rules on the licensing and supervision of crypto-asset providers, transparency and disclosure requirements, and measures for consumer protection.

If passed the following would have been included in the legislation:

“Crypto-assets shall be subject to minimum sustainable environmental standards with respect to their consensus mechanism used for validating transactions, before being issued, offered or admitted to trading in the union”.

The proposed provision caused quite a lot of controversy in crypto and blockchain circles. Cold-wallet company Ledger (who are EU-based) published a statement on their website condemning the provision, which they believe would cause the innovative and growing digital asset economy in Europe to “vanish”.

Certain members of the EU Parliament had also criticized the provision in the run-up to the vote. French MP Pierre Parson said that its inclusion would be a “significant break with the principle of technological neutrality”, which would “condemn the future of crypto-assets in Europe“.

The committee instead adopted the proposed wording from MP Dr. Stefan Berger, which would state the following:

“By 1 January 2025, the Commission shall present to the European Parliament and to the Council, as appropriate, a legislative proposal to amend Regulation (EU) 2020/852, in accordance with Article 10 of that Regulation, with a view to including in the EU sustainable finance taxonomy any crypto asset mining activities that contribute substantially to climate change mitigation and adaptation”.

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After the vote, Dr. Berger said on Twitter :

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 & sending out a strong signal for innovation.

MiCA will now move on to the next stage of the EU legislative process, which will involve negotiations between the EU Parliament, Council, and Commission.

Read more: What are the most environmentally friendly cryptocurrencies?