EU Crypto Regulation Bill Goes To Vote Next Week

Following a debate over language that would have essentially banned bitcoin, a vote on the European Union’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) legislation is set for next week.

As CoinDesk reported Monday (March 7), the vote by the Monetary Committee of the EU Parliament is set for March 14.

The parliament had been expected to approve the legislation last month, but that vote was put on hold over complaints from crypto industry advocates who objected to phrasing in the proposal that threatened to ban crypto companies from relying on energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining.

“An independent topic of proof-of-work is no longer provided in the MiCA,” said Dr. Stefan Berger, member of the Committee on Economics and Monetary Affairs and one of the European MPs who has pushed the MiCA bill forward. Dr. Berger was among the voices calling for the removal of language he previously called a “de facto” ban on Bitcoin.

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The regulation is intended to increase legal certainty surrounding crypto assets, particularly with regard to widespread concerns over the energy consumption involved in ‘mining’ these currencies.

European authorities have previously grappled with Crypto assets, including Sweden’s financial regulator last year calling for a ban on energy-intensive crypto mining processes, such as those based on PoW.

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