The European Parliament is delaying a vote on a structure aimed at regulating cryptocurrencies due to concerns about evidence-based mining.
In a Twitter thread on Friday, Stefan Berger, a member of the European Parliament’s Economic Committee, said the government body had canceled a Crypto Asset Markets, or MiCA, survey scheduled for Monday. Berger said Parliament should clarify the issue of “work certification” in discussions with stakeholders to ensure the right legal framework is in place, and added that some might misinterpret the proposal as a ban on cryptocurrency.
“The MiCA discussion suggests that parts of the draft report may be misinterpreted and misunderstood as a ban on action,” Berger said. “It would be fatal if the European Parliament gave the wrong vote in these circumstances.”
The MiCA, which was first submitted to the European Commission in September 2020 and adopted by the European Council in November 2021, aims to “create a regulatory framework for the cryptocurrency market that supports innovation and exploits the potential of cryptocurrencies in a way that preserves financial stability and protects investors.” Speaking about that vote – the person designated to report progress – Berger said he canceled the vote without specifying when it might be rescheduled.
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The push for clarification may have been prompted by reports that a leaked MiCA draft proposed banning cryptocurrencies in the European Union due to its energy use. If the regulation is adopted, it will replace all existing national cryptocurrency frameworks of EU member states without the need to reform laws one by one, potentially leading to a ban on evidence-based mining.
Several lawmakers and regulators in the European Union are calling for a mining ban as the crypto space grows and the effects of climate change become more visible. The Swedish Financial Services Authority and the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency called for a mining ban in November, drawing criticism from some industry leaders.
