Bitcoin faces pressure from EU carbon rules, UK banks

Homepage > News > Business > Bitcoin faces pressure from EU carbon rules, UK banks Higher EU carbon costs hit miners Study links Bitcoin to Russian emissions Bitcoin Policy UK flags banking barriers for Bitcoin Crypto ownership rises despite banking limits The European Union’s climate policy may be unnecessarily hampering growth in the digital asset industry, according to a new study suggesting that the bloc’s higher carbon prices might be encouraging block reward miners to relocate their emissions-intensive operations elsewhere. Meanwhile, the digital asset industry faces different challenges in the neighboring United Kingdom, where a prominent bitcoin advocacy group has accused the country’s banking sector of locking out crypto. EU carbon prices causing miner exodus A new study, published on August 21 by Vietnamese researchers, found that higher carbon prices in the EU may be encouraging emissions-intensive block reward mining operations to abandon the region, with Russia a favored destination. In 2005, the EU launched its Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The system operates on a “cap-and-trade” basis, meaning it sets a limit on the t...