Sweden Energy Minister: Country Needs Power For More Useful Things
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"We need energy for more useful things than bitcoin, to be honest."
Sweden Attracted Many Bitcoin Miners
With its hydro reservoirs and wind farms supplying clean and affordable electricity, Sweden has drawn a lot of bitcoin miners. Its coin manufacturing sector has grown to be among, if not the biggest, in all of Europe. The Stockholm government has assigned the Swedish Energy Agency to assess the energy usage in the digital world, particularly crypto mining because they are concerned about its rising power demand.
The accessibility of inexpensive energy mainly determines the location of mining farms. At the same time, crypto asset values significantly impact their operators' profits. These problems are expected to worsen due to the mandated assessment.
Potential Imposition of Measures To Restrict Mining
Farmanbar declined to say what policies the government would enact to limit mining, but two possibilities have been brought forward. One is to rearrange the order in which power users connect to the network, giving precedence to those who evidently contribute more to society's advantages, such as producing many jobs. The other option is to restrict the application of the favorable tax status that all data centers receive.
Authorities are urged to learn more about cutting-edge technologies like cryptocurrency mining. Environmental protection agencies proposed a ban on energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) mining in the European Union last year against the backdrop of a sharp rise in energy consumption in the industry.