White House proposes ban on Bitcoin mining to combat climate change

In a recent meeting, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy proposed a ban on Bitcoin proof-of-work mining, due to the amount of electricity produced, to combat climate change.

Climate change has become a preceding issue for the US and the rest of the world. Biden’s government has been making efforts to reduce energy consumption within the US by limiting crypto mining.

According to the reports published, the amount of computers and electricity consumed due to crypto production in the US is equivalent to the energy consumption of Malaysia or Sweden.

Bitcoin utilizes the proof-of-work consensus mechanism that requires computers to consume tons of energy to perform mathematical equations and create new crypto tokens.

In 2022, the world emitted 110 and 170 million metric tons of carbon, with  25 to 50 million metric tons produced in the US. These alarming stats require immediate actions to combat global warming.

The reports state that around 0.2% and 0.3% of carbon emissions come from the US due to crypto mining. The ministry proposes a “limit or eliminate” to limit energy consumption or ban cryptocurrency.

This ban will only apply to Bitcoin because of its proof of work model while Ethereum remains out of the radar since it will transition to proof of stake which cut down 99% of energy consumption.

Biden has promised to reduce the energy consumption in the US from the 2005 levels to half by 2030. He gave the executive order to investigate cryptocurrencies and the report was shared today.

Considering the increasing amount of interest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies leaves the Biden administration to decide whether they want to keep the miner operation or not.

Will Bitcoin be banned in the US or will the community make efforts to change Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism to proof of stake? Nothing has been discussed by Bitcoin experts.