It looks like ethereum and bitcoin are ready for one-on-one as Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency globally, has faced evident pressure and opposition from regulators and environmental activists. The main reason was the energy-centric bitcoin mining process and its adverse effect on the environment.
The energy consumed by miners for minting new bitcoins has gradually increased over the years as the demand for Bitcoin soared higher. The electricity consumption of bitcoin mining is often compared to the annual electricity consumption of some countries.
A strong anti-bitcoin statement
The internal documents of the EU reveal that they are likely protecting the likes of Ethereum over bitcoin, showing a solid anti-bitcoin statement.
The European Commission and Swedish regulators had spoken about a possible banning of bitcoin’s proof-of-work mechanism. The likely decision was raised due to the environmental effects of the algorithm.
The officials even suggest the European Union impose a ban on trading bitcoin to regulate its energy consumption. They even suggested pressurizing the bitcoin community to follow ethereum in its gradual transition to the less energy-centric proof-of-stake mechanism.
“If ethereum is able to shift, we could legitimately request the same from bitcoin,” minutes of the meeting showed. “We need to ‘protect’ other crypto coins that are sustainable. Don’t see [the] need to ‘protect’ the bitcoin community.”
The current energy consumption of bitcoin is approximately 139 terawatt-hours of electricity, which is more than what Finland consumes. This extensive energy consumption tempted the EU to vote against banning bitcoin’s proof-of-work and crypto mining last month.
“How would [the] disappearance of bitcoin affect consumers,” asked one official involved, with the response reading: “Participants in bitcoin are fully aware of the volatility of the currency/investment risk.”
Ethereum’s transition to proof-of-stake will definitely backfire on bitcoin as an alternate currency that can replace bitcoin. It will raise the possibility of dethroning bitcoin as a more efficient cryptocurrency in terms of energy consumption and environmental effects.