Sweden asks EU to ban Bitcoin mining because while hydroelectric power is cheap, they need it for other stuff
- Reference: 1637955131
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2021/11/26/sweden_bitcoin_mining_ban/
- Source link:
[1]
Kungstradgarden in Stockholm, Sweden
Since [2]China banned Bitcoin (again) , wannabe get-rich-quick artists have been looking for somewhere else to squander squillions of megawatt-hours minting imaginary internet money.
Cheap hydroelectric power makes the Nordics tempting, with Sweden alone using 1TW/h on it last year, but they would rather keep it for other uses than [3]ransoming encrypted files and [4]buying illegal drugs . Some will doubtless call that selfish and short-sighted of them.
[5]India to ban private cryptocurrency, create official version instead
[6]Crypto for cryptographers! Infosec types revolt against use of ancient abbreviation by Bitcoin and NFT devotees
[7]Alleged Brit SIM-swapper will kill himself if extradited to US for trial, London court told
[8]GPU makers increasingly disengage from crypto miners
In an [9]open letter to the EU, Erik Thedéen, director general of [10]Finansinspektionen , and Björn Risinger, director general of [11]Naturvårdsverket – the Financial Supervisory Authority and Environmental Protection Agency, respectively – call upon the EU and the Swedish government to ban energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining, and to legally prevent anyone doing it from calling it eco-friendly.
They point out that "Sweden needs the renewable energy targeted by crypto-asset producers for the climate transition of our essential services."
That all seems reasonable enough to us, and we also note that it gets very cold in winter up around those parts. If it happens, we wouldn't be surprised to see Norway and Iceland follow suit. ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/11/01/shutterstock_kungstradgarden.jpg
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/24/china_cryptocurrency_ban/
[3] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/18/fincen_ransomware_report/
[4] https://www.theregister.com/2018/04/16/australian_border_force_reveals_dark_web_btc_buy_survelliance_capability
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/24/india_digital_currency_bill/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/23/crypto_graphy_or_currency/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/23/corey_de_rose_us_extradition_hearing/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/19/gpu_makers_not_keen_on_crypto/
[9] https://www.fi.se/en/published/presentations/2021/crypto-assets-are-a-threat-to-the-climate-transition--energy-intensive-mining-should-be-banned/
[10] https://www.fi.se/en/about-fi/
[11] https://www.naturvardsverket.se/en/about-us/about-the-swedish-environmental-protection-agency/
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Or instead of ripping out compact, quiet gas-fired boilers and replacing them with bulky noisy heat pumps, install bitcoin mining rigs instead. Still get to heat the house, and maybe every now and again you can get a cold refreshing crypto-beer or two on the house. Quite literally.
It's all about control - when the pleb can issue currency themselves - this suddenly make power hungry control freaks who pull the levers anxious and sweaty. There is nothing worse than a feeling of losing control over your cattle.
Given a lot of green propaganda, the power consumption excuse seem to be quite permeating through ignorant crowds eager for bread and circuses. But... this could easily backfire - what about other things that consume a ton of energy for no benefit to the elites?
"quiet gas-fired boilers".
The dissapeared largely in Nordic countries 1950-60.
I haven't seen one since 1954.
What's next?
I read that Netflix or AWS use a ton of energy as well. These should be next!
Imagine now when people meet they turn on Netflix and then each one just keeps scrolling, occasionally showing the other a funny cat video they found.
If there was no Netflix or anything that runs on AWS, people would actually be forced to talk to each other and interact!
We have developed so many things when there was no internet or other distractions.
Re: What's next?
"Imagine now when people meet they turn on Netflix and then each one just keeps scrolling, occasionally showing the other a funny cat video they found."
When I meet people I do not turn on Netflix. There would be no point in meeting people just to watch a vid. Maybe me and my mates are outliers, but we usually do the talking and supping thing. Watch a vid? Nahhh
But what is it with this scrolling and sending each other cat videos. On Netflix?
I second that request.
Let the entire EU refuse to allow the mining of such things & watch the power load requirements get back down to saner levels that can usually be met by the power generating capacity available.