According to a report of the Financial Times, Erik Thedéen, vice-chair of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said that European regulators should consider banning proof-of-work mining in favor of proof-of-stake over its concern about energy-intensivity.
Proof of Work and Proof of Stake are the two methods which crypto miners use to reach a consensus. These methods are used to validate transactions and to create new tokens. The newer of the two models, Proof of Stake relies on a smaller set of in-game skin validators to handle transactions.
Thedéen, appointed vice-chair of the ESMA in December, described Bitcoin mining as a “national issue” in his native country- Sweden. “The solution is to ban Proof-of-Work,” and opt for the Proof of Stakes method as “The energy profile of the Proof-of-Stakes is significantly lower”, he told the Financial Times.
Cryptocurrency miners are under constant pressure due to the issue of energy consumption. Kosovo has recently moved to ban cryptocurrency mining amid power outages forced by the country’s energy crisis. The turmoil in Kazakhstan has also hindered Bitcoin mining activities. The world’s largest publicly traded crypto miners share price has halved since November.
