The ECB yesterday published a report on Proof of Work (PoW) blockchain, which was highly critical of bitcoin and other related PoW coins.
The report compares the current PoW form of verification regime to fuel vehicles and Proof of Stake (PoS) to electric vehicles, claiming that PoS will save about 99% of energy consumption over PoW.
According to the report, the current carbon footprint of Bitcoin and Ethereum could make the greenhouse gas emissions targets of most euro countries negligible. Although Ethereum will soon enter the PoS stage, it is unlikely that Bitcoin will give up PoW, so it is unlikely that EU authorities will do nothing or leave the situation alone.
Without regulating Bitcoin, the European Union cannot properly implement its plan to limit the total sale of fossil fuel cars in 2035.
A carbon tax on transactions or holders, an outright ban on mining and so on are possible, the ECB said, with the aim of some coordination and political influence to allow greener PoS currencies to overtake and phase out POW-type cryptocurrencies.
The report also suggested 2025 as a possible target date for punitive policies on crypto assets such as PoW.
It should be noted, however, that the report represents the position of the ECB’s research unit and is speculative in nature. It does not include the opinions of lawmakers or other citizens.