US lawmakers and regulators are discussing the introduction of tough measures against bitcoin mining due to the large carbon footprint. This is stated in the report of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
Miners are offered to reduce greenhouse gas emissions with the participation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Ministry of Energy and other federal agencies.
The White House also suggested that the government collect more data on the energy consumption of the industry, promote energy efficiency standards and «use environmentally friendly technologies» for mining.
If these measures do not work, energy-intensive bitcoin mining may be banned.
«If these measures prove ineffective to reduce the impact, the administration should study executive measures, and Congress may consider a bill to limit or exclude the use of high—energy consensus algorithms for mining crypto assets,» the report says.
The document mentions the transition of the Ethereum network from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake. The White House called this move «the most noticeable reaction to calls to use less energy-intensive consensus mechanisms.»
Recall that one of the reasons why we made a successful fork of bitcoin is ecology. The Bitcoin Additional (BTCa) project allows you to mine bitcoin without buying energy-consuming equipment, which has a positive effect on nature. We believe in our idea, so we are developing a referral program and giving 0.001 BTCa to new users.