Once again, US lawmakers are turning their attention to cryptocurrencies. However, this does not bode well as we know they are completely against it. This time, a topic is particularly close to their hearts and bitcoin (BTC) mining may be the victim of it…
United States, House lawmakers go after big 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 United States, the Democrats do not budge and continue to demonstrate against cryptocurrencies in general, and bitcoin (BTC) in particular.
This time it was members of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee who sent letters to four publicly traded crypto miners. In fact, they want 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 most affected. The latter must respond to letters signed by committee chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Diana Degette (D-CO) and Paul Tonko (D-NY).
After a surprising recovery, bitcoin (BTC) is again hovering in the red. In fact, the main cryptocurrency is down more than 6% in the last 24 hours. As investors grapple with this instability, US lawmakers are cracking down on bitcoin mining. The latter is right in the middle of scrutiny of the environmental impact of crypto mining.
Recently, six Democrats led by Jared Huffman and Senator Elizabeth Warren sent a letter to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) saying that it was “disturbing” the amount of energy that used by miners.
Although they recognize that some miners reduce their energy needs by using renewable energy sources, lawmakers are still convinced that bitcoin mining causes significant damage to the environment. Therefore, they invite the EPA and DOE to require more reporting on cryptocurrency mining energy consumption.
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Eddy Senga
The world is changing and adaptation is the best weapon to survive in this turbulent world. As a crypto community manager at the base, I am interested in everything directly or indirectly related to the blockchain and its derivatives. To share my experience and express an area of interest to me, there is nothing better than writing articles that are informative and entertaining at the same time.
