Norway is cracking down on Bitcoin—once more.
The nation’s Labor authorities mentioned in a press release Friday that it could examine a brief ban on new power-intensive crypto mining operations. Based on the assertion, the ability used for mining digital belongings could possibly be put to higher use, together with for neighborhood information facilities and blockchain.
“Throughout the fall of 2025, the federal government will discover the opportunity of briefly prohibiting the institution of recent information facilities in Norway that extract cryptocurrency with essentially the most power-consuming expertise,” the assertion learn.
The federal government added that “the helpful use of blockchain expertise and AI can be necessary,” and that it would not wish to “impede innovation and improvement in areas which might be helpful to society.”
Power minister Terje Aasland added: “By prohibiting power-intensive mining of cryptocurrencies, we will unlock land, energy and grid capability for different consumption that contributes to a larger extent to worth creation, jobs and cuts in greenhouse gasoline emissions.”
The assertion didn’t reveal which cryptocurrencies it was involved about and didn’t instantly reply to Decrypt‘s questions.
By far, the crypto mining trade primarily focuses on minting the main digital asset, Bitcoin, however different massive proof-of-work belongings that require mining embrace Dogecoin, Bitcoin Money, and Litecoin.
It would not be the primary time the Scandinavian nation has cracked down on crypto mining: In 2018, the nation’s authorities ended electrical energy subsidies for Bitcoin miners.
Furthermore, regardless of an abundance of hydroelectric-generated energy, Norway’s electrical energy costs have not too long ago surged because the nation absorbs vitality prices stemming from declines in wind energy amongst European neighbors by way of prior agreements with these international locations. Governments all over the world have beforehand cracked down on Bitcoin mining—most notably China, which skilled an exodus of miners to the U.S. after authorities banned the observe.
Mining Bitcoin and different cryptocurrencies is an influence hungry enterprise. Operations are scattered across the globe. Miners sometimes flock to the place they’ll discover low cost electrical energy to gasoline their set-ups: warehouses full of specialised computer systems that course of transactions on a crypto community.
Different industries, together with AI, additionally use monumental quantities of electrical energy.
Bitcoin was not too long ago buying and selling at about $103,755, roughly flat over the previous 24 hours, CoinGecko information reveals.
Edited by James Rubin
