The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Energy (DOE), and other federal agencies should work with crypto miners to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to a report required by President Biden in an executive order issued in March.
It advocated the “use of environmentally responsible crypto-asset technologies” and suggested that the government gather more information from the business community about power consumption and develop energy efficiency requirements.
According to the report, the Administration should investigate executive actions, and Congress may propose legislation to limit or ban the use of high energy intensity consensus procedures for crypto asset mining if these measures prove ineffective at mitigating impacts.
A lot of computing power is required to validate blocks of transactions to blockchains when mining cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, hence mining is frequently done on an industrial scale. The United States is currently a hub for Bitcoin mining. Mining operations migrated to North America after China cracked down on the sector: according to today’s research, the U.S. share of global Bitcoin mining increased from 3.5% in 2020 to 38% in the present.
President Joe Biden issued an executive order in March that set forth a comprehensive plan for the federal government of the United States to regulate the cryptocurrency sector, including mining.
The difference between proof-of-work and proof-of-stake blockchains was also discussed in today’s report, along with “the merge,” Ethereum’s long-awaited upgrade.
“There have been growing calls for [proof-of-work] blockchains to adopt less energy-intensive consensus mechanisms. The most prominent reaction has been Ethereum’s promised launch of ‘Ethereum 2.0,’ which uses a [proof-of-stake] consensus mechanism,” the report said.
As per some analysts, Bitcoin’s excessive energy consumption will draw more attention after Ethereum’s upgrade is complete.